Five months later
by blackout4465
Summary: Five months ago, Yang was exiled from Vale and banned from moving to any of the other three kingdoms for her actions in the Vytal festival. Now, after spending five months in the wilderness, Yang has returned to Vale, a grizzled and scornful shadow of her former self. After Ozpin learns that the Wizard from the maiden story is dying, he must send RWBY and JNPR to secure his powers.
1. Return of the fallen

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 **RWBY Dorm**

"Would team JNPR please report to the headmasters office at once. Team JNPR to the headmasters office please." Ruby looked at Weiss and Blake with a grin.

"I wonder what kind of trouble they got themselves into this time." She said leaping off her bed. Weiss was brushing her hair in the mirror while Blake was searching through the closet to find some more formal clothes to wear.

"I'm sure we'll find out eventually, now hurry up and find some nicer clothes to wear." Weiss scolded as she shoved Ruby towards Blake.

"Why do we need to dress up for this anyway? It's not like we're meeting some big shot of a company or a celebrity." Ruby shot back as Blake began to undress her.

"No, but your sister is being returned today, so I figured we'd better look nice for the occasion. It's not everyday that your teammate gets freed from a sentencing early." Weiss said as she began to put her hair into her ponytail on the left side of her head. It had been 5 months since Yang had broken Mercury's leg on national TV during the Vytal Festival. Her team had found Mercury later that week hiding in a stolen airship repairing a prosthetic leg. He was exposed to have cheated during the match by using his partner Emeralds Semblance to trick the crowd. But by the time that the world knew the truth, it was too late.

Yang had been sentenced to 1 year outside the walls of the kingdom. A very harsh punishment for a minor, but the council was furious with the insult to the Vytal Festival rules of sportsmanship. Once they discovered the mistake and tried to make contact with Yang to apologize, they couldn't find her. She had vanished into the wilderness. The Council of Vale sent out countless teams of trained huntsmen and huntress's to find her, but it was 5 months before they found anything. Team CFVY found her on a small forest island off the coast of Atlas. She had made camp there 2 months prior to being found and had been fighting off Grimm attacks every day.

When she was found and Velvet explained the situation to her, she flew into a rage and nearly leveled the small island before the second year team subdued her. When news reached Beacon academy that Yang had been found, it was met with great celebration. Both in relief that she was still alive and with pride that their academy had been the ones to find her first. Teams JNPR and RWBY were planing to meet by the helipads to greet her and to apologize for not believing her when the incident first occurred.

"I just don't get why we're getting so dressed up to greet her, she'll probably be in in torn and destroyed clothes and smell really bad after going without a shower for 5 months!" Ruby shouted as Weiss and Blake wrestled her into a corset.

"That doesn't matter! When I was young and had to go with my father and sister to board meetings, we were always dressed to impress! We are going to apologize to Yang for what happened 5 months ago and we are going to look like we mean it!" Weiss shouted back forcing Ruby into her heels. When they had finished the three girls were wearing formal clothes that resembled Weiss's combat gear, with a longer skirt and less frills.

The three girls left their room and knocked on team JNPR's door. "They're not there remember? They got called to Ozpin's office. I'm sure they'll make it to the landing zone on time." Blake said as she grabbed Ruby and lead her towards the stairs. Reaching the doors to the court yard they opened them to find most of the school had gathered to greet Yang, including most of the staff. In the distance they could see a very large ship slowly making its way to Beacons cliff side landing zone.

With a heavy sigh, Weiss said, "Well, there she is. Lets hurry up, don't want to be late."

* * *

 **Ozpin's Office**

Team JNPR sat in Ozpin's office waiting to be scolded. Jaune was a nervous wreck, mostly for not being sure exactly why they were there. Pyrrha sat beside him with her hand on his back trying to calm him while Nora rocked back and forth in her chair without a care in the world. Ren just looked kind of bored. Glynda stood beside them waiting for Ozpin to speak. And finally, we have the headmaster himself, standing by a window, coffee in hand and cane planted firmly on the floor. He took a final sip and turned to the students in his office.

"Do any of you know why you were called here today?" He asked while he walked towards his desk. Nora was the first to speak up.

"OOH! Was it the fire in the dust lab? Or maybe the food fight last week! NO WAIT! We're here because of the party in the emerald forest right!" Ozpin chuckled lightly. He always like to ask that question before revealing the true reason, merely to see what they confessed to.

"No Nora, we have known about those for a while, the party in the forest I will however admit we were not yet aware of." Her team glared at her as she shuffled back further into her seat. "No, I called you all here today because Beacon is going to be getting some very special guests, a team of professional hunters. They have offered to help teach combat at this school and I want you to greet them."

Jaune looked up with surprise. 'We're not in trouble? He just wants us to greet a group of hunters? Why do I feel like there's a catch?' Jaune looked behind Ozpin and saw a large Airship coming into view behind him. 'Yang!'

"Oh man guys we're going to be late to greet Yang!" Jaune shouted as he grabbed his team and began to rush them to the elevator. Nora grabbed Ren and all but dragged the poor boy from his chair.

Ozpin smiled as he saw the children rushing to the exit. "Oh, miss Nikos! I wish to speak to you after your team is done greeting our guests." Pyrrha turned and saw a serious look on the mans face. She nodded quickly before following Jaune into the elevator. As the door closed Ozpin turned swiftly and walked to the window to watch the airship approach. Glynda walked over to his side and saw the massive crowd below awaiting the return of the various students that had been sent to find Yang.

"So Ozpin, who are these hunters that are arriving? Anyone of significance?" She asked while watching the Airship make it's final approach.

"A couple that you may know. Professor's Tyme and Orion are coming. The spring maiden is with them as well." Glynda looked up to him with surprise. She had not been expecting another maiden to arrive at Beacon, much less to bring a team with two very well known hunters with her.

She looked back down at the courtyard to see team RWBY walking towards the landing zone with team JNPR sprinting out of the building. "Should I expect Crow and Taiyang to arrive as well? We did just find their Daughter/niece." Glynda asked as she watched the two teams meet by the landing zone. Ozpin just took a sip of his coffee and smiled.

"We shall see."

* * *

 **Landing Zone**

Team RWBY and team JNPR stood at the foot of the landing pad as the massive airship landed. It touched down with a massive crunch as the landing gear scraped along the pavement for a few meters, then shuddered as the engines were cut. The door opened and the landing platform extended itself. It was quiet for a moment as the crowd waited to see who would emerge from the ship first.

Moments later the first group of people walked out of the ship. It was team SSSN followed by team CFVY. The crowd erupted into cheers as the teams they had sent out had finally returned. Behind them came a parade of other well known hunter teams and teachers. Then the last five people exited one at a time. The first out was an old man with graying hair, tan white skin, and a monocle over his left eye with a chain that lead to his left breast pocket. On his right hand he had an armored glove that was black with gold trimmings, and had claws at the tip of each finger. He wore a black double breasted suit and had black dress shoes. He walked up to the two teams and stood beside team JNPR.

"Good day. My name is Professor Tyme. I was told to meet team JNPR upon my arrival." Jaune looked at him with a smile and motioned for him to stand beside them while they greeted the rest of the guests. He nodded with a smile and walked to his place beside Ren.

The next was a man with short brown hair who looked to be in his mid forties with tan skin. He had a white Atlas military uniform on that resembled General Ironwoods, but with a longer coat, going to his feet to the point that it was almost brushing the ground. He walked with a large staff that had multiple dust crystals embedded through out the length of it, ending with a bright yellow star shaped crystal on the top of the staff. He appeared to walk with a slight limp, suggesting something had happened that forced him to use the staff as a support. He walked to team JNPR and nodded to them.

"My name is Professor Orion. I presume that you are the team we are to meet with." It was less of a question and more of a statement. Jaune nodded with a smile and motioned for the man to take the spot beside his colleague. The man walked swiftly to his partner and stood beside him in a very military way of standing, almost like he were saluting.

"JAUNE!" A voice shouted as the teams turned to the ship. A tall girl with shoulder length blonde hair, pale skin and plate armor similar to his own ran down the ramp. She was carrying a massive battleaxe on her back that looked like it weighed more than the girl carrying it. She had dark blue eyes and a pair of gold armored boots on her feet. She slammed into Jaune and caused him to topple over. The teams looked at the poor boy with surprise and concern. The girl jumped up dragging Jaune with her and pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

"OOH! I haven't seen you in years!" She shouted as she squeezed him tighter and tighter. The boy let out a surprised gasp as he struggled to breathe.

"NOVA!" She released him and looked to Professor Tyme. "You're going to kill the poor boy! Look at him, he's gasping like a fish out of water!" She looked down to see that Jaune was on his knees struggling to breathe.

"Oops..." Jaune looked up at Nova with shock.

"N-nova? I though you were back home with mom and dad." He said as he pulled himself back onto his feet. At full height he was looking down at the girl girl by about four inches. The girl just smiled up at him.

"Jaune? Do you know this girl?" Pyrrha asked as she looked to her leader who seemed rather familiar with her.

"Oh, right! Guys, I'd like to introduce my oldest sister, Nova Arc. She graduated from Beacon ten years ago." He said as he turned towards his friends. They waved at Nova as she passed them. She took her place beside the rest of her team and whistled towards the ship.

"Hurry up and get out here!" She yelled, waiting for the last member of her team. The group turned to see the final member of her team exit the airship. The crowd went silent.

Exiting the airship was a man that had a full Grimm mask covering his face, with long shaggy brick red hair and very tanned skin. He stood around nine and a half feet tall with heavy gold armor on most of his body. He had a long blond tail jutting out from his waist in the back with a puff of dark red fur at the tip. On his wrists were a pair of black bracelets similar to Ember Celica, but these had parts that trailed to a hinge joint on his elbows, then followed bars further up his arms to his shoulders. Oh his back were two large tanks.

He walked up to the two teams and starred down at Jaune. Jaune looked back with a terrified expression across his face. Then the man spoke.

"Hello." He stuck out his massive hand for Jaune to shake. He had a deep voice that almost had a growl to it. Jaune was not known for his bravery in a the face of a daunting foe, at lest not without prior warning. He was expecting to be greeting old hunters. Not a member of the White Fang. The man turned his head to the side in confusion, then withdrew his hand.

"Dammit Leo, I said your not allowed to wear the mask here! These people have had bad experiences with those masks." Professor Tyme said as he walked over to the man. "Now take off the mask, switch your armor off and act normal!" The man looked down at the professor for a moment before speaking.

"Don't want to show face." Tyme pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Just do it. I promise no one here will make fun of you for your face." The tall man seemed hesitant at first, but ultimately gave in and switched off his armor and removed the mask. Under the heavy armor was a pair of bright blue jeans, like Suns only longer, a white T-shirt with a brown leather jacket and black sneakers. The armor had receded onto his arms, and were making up two very large gauntlets that covered his entire torso. Removing his mask the man appeared to be not much older than them, looking to be in his early twenties. He had sea green eyes and light stubble on his chin. The most prominent feature was a large 'X' shaped scar on his face, that met just between his eyes.

Tyme looked to the two teams and spoke. "This is Leo Thorne, he was a Faunus that used to work with the White Fang until he had to leave due to personal reasons. He is rather self conscious about his appearance, so please don't stare." He finished while looking directly at Ruby who quickly turned away. "He never had a formal education so his vocabulary is... Limited." Tyme spoke for Leo who was starring directly at Weiss with a focused stare. She Looked back with a confused expression.

"Why is he looking at me like that?" She asked, catching Tyme's attention. He looked at Leo with an equally confused stare.

"Leo? Is something the matter?" Nova asked as she walked up to him. He continued to stare at Weiss for a few more seconds until he turned and walked to his place beside Orion.

"Not her." He said before refocusing his attention on the airship. Nova and Tyme shared confused glances before walking back over to their places.

"What do you think he meant?" Weiss asked, before Ruby interrupted her.

"SHHH! Look! It's Yang!" The Crowd let lose a loud roar in cheer as the girl that they had all been waiting for finally exited the airship. She still had waist length blonde hair, but it was a mess and looked damaged with several splotches of mud. The sleeves on her jacket were torn off, making it into a vest. Her boots were cut from the ankles up and left only with the soles and the covering, which didn't look to be in great condition at all, covered with ware and tear. She had dozens of small scratches along her legs, along with a long scar along her left breast that trailed from the middle of her chest to the top of her left shoulder. She had lost her scarf and her skirt, left only with her black shorts.

But to Ruby, the two biggest changes, were on her wrist and face. She had lost her left Ember Celica, and her once lilac eyes were a crimson red. She walked to the end of the ramp and stood a few feet from her friends. The smile she usually wore was not present as she starred back at the people who she had bunked with for a year before being thrown out due to a hasty decision made by the council that none of them questioned. She glared at each of them then began to walk towards them.

The two teams had gone over the scenario in their heads several times, but it all feel apart when they saw her. RWBY were so happy to see their friend again and JNPR were so glad that she was safe. When she started towards them they relaxed. Ruby reached out to give Yang a hug, but was shoved out of the way as she walked past them. The teams were stunned and turned to see her keep walking away, heading towards the school.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted as she followed after her. She made to grab at her sisters hand, but Yang pulled it away. She turned to her friends and in a low and menacing voice said.

"I'm going to go shower, fix my Weapon, and then I expect to see each one of you in the arena." There was steam radiating off her as she turned and kept walking towards the school.

RWBY and JNPR were stunned. The last time they'd seen Yang she was a happy person that didn't seem to have a care in the world. Now she was a cold bitter shadow of her former self. Ruby looked close to tears as her team walked up to her.

"I'm sure she's still just angry about the mistake. I'm sure she'll be okay in a few days." Jaune said as he walked up to the group.

"Yeah Ruby, I'm sure she'll be fine. You saw her hair. She's probably just mad about that." Blake said as she helped Ruby to her feet.

"Why was yellow lady mad?" The group turned to see Leo, Orion, Tyme and, Nova had followed them and were looking at Ruby.

"Maybe we should take you to Ozpin now." Pyrrha said as she grabbed Jaune and started to walk, quickly followed by their guests.

* * *

 **RWBY Dorm**

Yang opened the door to her old room and saw that not much had changed. Her clothes were still in their same spot in the closet, her bed was made but didn't look slept in. The only thing she noticed was a couple of the posters were gone, and there was a big map that had places marked that read 'The hunt for Yang' on the bottom. She scowled and tore it off the wall and threw it in the trash. She heard rustling to the right and turned to see Zwei leap at her from Ruby's bed. Catching the small dog she lifted him up to her face and saw his playful grin.

She smiled at the small dog and placed him on the floor before walking to their bathroom and closing the door. She turned on the shower and began to strip off the remains of her destroyed outfit. She stopped when she saw herself in the mirror. She traced the scar on her left breast from its base to the top of her shoulder, then saw her hair and eyes. She scowled at her reflection and turned away from the mirror. Removing the rest of her clothes she climbed into the shower and let the warm water wash over her skin.

'Oh I've missed this.' Yang could feel the world melt away around her as the layers of mud and dirt on her body were washed away by the hot water that she had not felt for close to five months. She spent close to an hour in the shower washing off the dirt and cleaning her hair. Exiting the shower she spent another hour in front of the mirror fixing her hair, and returning it to its previous state.

Finally satisfied with the state of her hair she walked out of the bathroom to find that her team was in the room waiting for her. They looked to her and saw that despite the fact that she was cleaned and her hair fixed she still had red eyes. She glared around the room as she walked to the closet and grabbed her spare clothes. She began to change without saying anything to the rest of the rooms occupants.

"Yang?" She stopped sliding her shirt on and looked over at Blake with a blank stare. "Are you okay?" She stared at Blake for a few more seconds before returning to getting her clothes on. She slid her boots on and turned to face the rest of the room, now back in her casual clothes and feeling better from the shower.

"I believe I said that I would meet you all in the arena. If you'd like I could pummel you all right here instead though." Her voice carried no kindness or happiness, only hatred. She looked across the room and saw the various looks of surprise on their faces. She walked to her desk and pulled out a screwdriver and proceeded to go to work on her remaining gauntlet.

"What happened to you out there Yang? Why are you being so cold to us?" Ruby asked. There was a loud crack as Yang managed to force the piece's of her gauntlet back into place. Transforming it into its weapon form then back to a bracelet she turned to her sister before standing. She walked to the door and opened it before turning to her little sister.

"You want to know what happened to me? Then get to the arena before I get done at the armory." She slammed the door behind her as she left knowing the picture frame from the wall. Team RWBY was silent. They had expected to see their friend again after several months of her being in exile, but something had happened while she was away that was keeping that side of her personality locked away.

"Get your combat gear." Weiss said as she hooked Myrtenaster to her belt before sliding her boots on.

"Weiss we can't just go and fight her!" Blake said as she watched he friend sliding her coat on.

"And why not? She wants a fight, so I'm going to give her one. Maybe we'll get some answers as to why she's being so bitchy afterwards." Weiss threw Blake her bow before turning to see Ruby strapping Crescent Rose to her back.

"She's right. Yang said if we want answers we need to meet her in the arena. Besides, the last time she acted this way dad chewed her out. I don't think he'd like it if I let her keep acting this way." She said as she pulled her cloak over her head. Blake sighed and grabbed Gambol Shroud before walking to the door with the rest. They bumped into team JNPR on their way out and saw that they were all geared up as well. The two leaders looked at each other, then to their teams.

"Well, ready to find out whats wrong with Yang?"

* * *

 **ARENA**

Students and staff alike had gathered at the arena after Yang's declaration of war against her team and JNPR. The stands surrounding the arena were packed with a cheering crowd and concerned friends as Yang squared off against seven opponents below. Most had expected Yang to be at a disadvantage without her second gauntlet but she showed no signs of slowing down. Having not even activated the gun form of her gauntlets she was tearing the two teams apart.

While none of Yang's opponents had fallen, they didn't seem capable of gaining ground as Yang kept them constantly on their toes. Flying across the arena at a blinding speed she would slam her fist into one opponent while dodging another. It wasn't until Weiss managed to trap her feet in ice that their side got their first clean hit. Locking her left leg in ice up to her knee, Weiss moved aside allowing Nora the chance to hit Yang in the chest with Magnhild and send her spiraling into the air. Following up on the clean hit, Pyrrha threw Ruby into the air allowing her to get above Yang and bring Crescent Rose down hard on her chest.

Yang slammed into the ground with a loud crash that created a sizable dust cloud. RWBY and JNPR quickly surrounded the cloud waiting for it to settle. They could see a silhouette in the cloud standing completely still. They then heard the quick shifting of gears followed by Yang's angry voice.

"You learn a-lot living outside of a kingdom. When you need to fight off the Grimm to survive daily. I've found that many tactics of hunting Grimm can be applied to normal combat." Oobleck and Peter Port shared a glance in the stands before turning their attention to the battle at hand, both curious what she had learned while living amongst the very things they exist to fight. "For instance, while fighting Beowolves, I learned that if you kill the pack leader it causes a loss of coordination amongst the pack."

The very second she finished speaking, a flash of red shot forth from the cloud and knocked Pyrrha off her feet. She slid back to the wall and slammed into it with enough force to create a crack. As she looked back, her left eye began to glow slightly.

"Oh no, I can't have that now can I?" Three more blasts slammed into Pyrrha before the announcer called her as defeated. Jaune stared at his teammate in shock, as did most of the crowd. Pyrrha Nikos had just been utterly obliterated. She had never lost a fight in a tournament before this, but she was defeated in an instant.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune called out.

"Focus on the fight you fool!" Professor Port shouted, but it was too late.

"After the pack loses coordination, you can pick off the weakest links with ease." Jaune turned only to see that Yang was right beside him. With a swift uppercut she threw him into the air, followed quickly by an explosion as Ember Celica discharged.

"How is her weapon tearing through their aura so fast?" Port asked as he watched Jaune fall to the ground, completely unconscious.

"If I had my guess it would be due to where she was found. The Island she was found on used to be a Dust mine. The Schnee family abandoned it after it became more expensive to send protection there than to keep it running. To defend herself from the Grimm there, she must have gone to the mine in order to re-supply. The Dust in that region is very unstable, but if distilled correctly can be made into powerful weapons." Oobleck took another sip of his coffee and watched the fight closely.

"I see, so because she was able to harvest rare and unstable dust, her shells pack a much heavier punch. On top of that, she had to study the Grimm closely in order to defeat them. Her time in the wilderness paid off well to teach her how to hunt multiple prey without any support. Since the students didn't know about the new dust, they didn't use enough aura to shield themselves." Port and Oobleck were both thoroughly impressed with her progress. Though not all of the crowd present was as happy to see Pyrrha go down.

Glynda was refereeing the match and had seen Pyrrha get close to activating her Maidens power. 'Yang saw her eyes and hit her as hard as she could to stop her from activating her power. Does Yang know about the Maidens? Or was it just coincidence that Yang attacked when she did?' Glynda watched as Yang used the dust cloud to her advantage and got behind Jaune to deliver the killing blow. 'She certainly got stronger while she was gone. And much more ferocious.'

Blake and Weiss moved to attack Yang from the side but she dove back into the cloud and attacked Nora from the other side. "When fighting a Deathstalker, if you can't over power it, you need to wait until it makes an opening." Yang said as she rolled away from Nora's attack. "Then strike when it is recovering!" Yang launched herself forwards to strike at Nora. Nora saw her and sent out a blast of electricity to defend herself. Yang quickly rolled under the attack and said, "Remember to watch out for their stinger." Yang grabbed Nora by the armor on her abdomen and delivered three very close range blast to her face, then released her with a kick to the gut.

Ren watched Nora fall to the ground and turned to Yang. Using Stormflower he attempted to throw her off balance while he closed the distance between them. Throwing several quick slashes at Yang he succeeded in hitting her across the face with his blades twice before jumping back. Yang stumbled back before catching herself and glaring at Ren.

"When engaging a King Taijitu, never lose your balance. They attack fast and use their speed to knock their opponents around." Quickly closing the distance between her and Ren, Yang grabbed his arms before locking them behind his back. Pulling hard until he released his grasp on Stormflower, she kicked him hard in the back sending him sprawling forward. Turning fast he blocked Yang's punch with his Aura shield and threw her back.

Yang growled. "Never forget though, King Taijitu have two heads. Don't relax until you've killed both." Yang leapt at Ren, throwing punch after punch, with Ren meeting her blow for blow. Yang was getting frustrated that he wasn't going down as easy as his team was. She pressed her advantage until she saw movement to her right. She jumped away just in time for a purple wave to slam into an unsuspecting Ren and knock him into unconsciousness. "Always remember. When you find one Grimm, more are likely to be nearby." Yang said as she glared at Weiss, Blake and, Ruby.

"We can't win if we fight her one at a time! We need to chain our attacks!" Ruby shouted. Weiss and Blake looked at each other before nodding and leaping at Yang. With her dust cloud gone, she had no way to hide from this attack. Yang got into a defensive stance as Weiss propelled herself and Blake at her. As she planted her foot behind her she felt it get pushed away. As she fell she saw a small glyph where she planted her foot that had forced her foot away.

'So, they haven't been sitting around doing nothing these last five months after all.' Yang slammed into the floor and rolled to her feet. Looking forward she saw only Ruby. 'Where?!' She spun around and was met with the sheath of Gambol Shroud swiping across her face. Blake didn't leave her any room to recover as she followed up with several shots from her pistol and a high kick to the jaw. Yang stumbled back and threw a blast from Ember Celica at her. It connected with her and she shattered into hundreds of shards of rock. 'Damn! They've gotten their coordination back!'

Yang's eyes caught a glow from above her and saw she was surrounded by Glyphs. She grinned. 'Lets see if she if she's found a way to compensate for this drawback.' Yang was suddenly being thrown through the air as Weiss slashed at her while bouncing off the Glyphs. When it came time for the final slash she reared back. 'Now!' Weiss threw her arm forward thrusting Myrtenaster towards Yang's chest. Yang's eyes shot open and she grabbed Weiss by the neck and brought her close.

"The problem with a big attack when your fighting a strong enemy." She punched Weiss in the gut and planted her fist firmly on her abdomen. "Is that it leaves you open to a counter." Weiss felt Yang shift her fist before firing three shots into her gut. Weiss's aura absorbed the first two and half blasts, but the shock from the final blast threw her into the far wall, crumpling onto the floor beside Pyrrha. Satisfied with her work Yang turned to Ruby. "What can you do little sis?" She began to walk toward her with her arms out. "What can you do that the rest of them failed to do?"

Yang had forgotten that Blake was still there, until she felt a ribbon wrap tightly around her neck. She grabbed at the offending object on her neck while she was being dragged backwards.

"RUBY NOW!" Blake yelled as she dragged Yang towards her. Ruby dashed towards her sister while firing Crescent Rose to gain speed. She reared back to slash at Yang when she spoke.

"When locked in combat for your life, you must sometimes be prepared to leave part of yourself behind..." She quickly brought Ember Celica to her neck and fired. The crowd erupted with surprised shouts and gasps. Blake and Ruby were so shocked that they failed to notice that the ribbon had been destroyed. Yang swayed back and forth, the crowd expecting her to fall.

Glynda looked up at the monitor and saw that Yang's aura was far from the red and adjusted her glasses. 'She knew that would surprise her opponents and that she could take the blast. She's gotten better at measuring aura levels.'

Yang's face was still obscured by the smoke when she made her move. She spun around and grabbed Blake by her hair and slammed her face into her knee several times. Not giving her time to recover, Yang shot her twice in the face. Blake stumbled back until she hit a wall, sliding down she fell into unconsciousness beside Ren. Yang turned to look at Ruby who was starring at her with great amounts of fear. "So what now Ruby. This time I know your all alone." She started towards her sister and transformer Ember Celica into its inactive mode.

"Why aren't you using Ember Celica? It would go faster." She said as she regained her composure and took a defensive stance.

"No point in wasting all my new ammo here. I'm going to beat you into the ground with my fists alone." Yang got closer and began to pick up speed. She cracked her knuckles and leapt at Ruby. Seeing her sister leap at her she brought Crescent Rose around to counter.

" **YANG!** "

Yang stumbled and stopped her fist before it connected. Ruby shrieked in surprise as she missed her counter and got dragged to the floor with her Scythe. Yang looked into the stands to see where the familiar voice had come from. Seeing nothing in the crowd she turned to the entrance of the arena and paled. Standing in the door way were Taiyang and Qrow. Starring down at the arena, seeing all of the carnage that had taken place.

Yang starred back with shock only getting in one word before Ruby surrendered the match.

"Dad?"

* * *

 **Alright! So, that's chapter one! Haven't written a Fanfic for a good while, so tell me what you think. I think it is obvious by this point at least that Yang will not be acting the same as she does in the show, as I've had her out in the Wild for a good while. I plan to expand on her time in the wild and why she is so angry at her friends in later chapters.**

 **This is a warning.**

 **For any readers who have read this far and plan to continue reading this, if you don't like when OC characters can hold their own against main heroes and villains, then this will not be the story for you. Remember a few paragraphs ago when I mentioned the four new hunters? That wasn't just for show, they will be playing a big part in future chapters.**


	2. The Source

**Wow. I must say the amount of people that enjoyed the first chapter was far more than I had expected. I truly do appreciate all the people that left a review and even the people that just read it in passing. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my story.**

 **Now then, to address some concerns.**

 ***MIK23LIK - It only seems like they were weak so I could show off Yang's skills after her time in the wilderness. I can assure you that they will continue to play a large role as powerhouses, even if only to further my own purposes.**

 ***Hina Birdie - You must understand that at the current point in the story, Yang feels betrayed by her friends and Ruby. When she was exiled, none of them tried to argue the order, all believing that she was legitimately guilty. Though I can not yet reveal how Yang will act with the rest of the cast, I can assure you that by the end, I will find a way to either satisfy everyone, or be a dick and create a major cliffhanger.**

 **Now, with that out of the way, on to the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters or locations.**

* * *

Jaune's eyes flew open as he quickly sat forward in his bed. His breathing was ragged as he remembered what had happened. 'Yang...' He thought back to the fight and remembered seeing Yang defeat Pyrrha before everything went black. He felt someones hands on his chest and looked to the side. It was Pyrrha in a chair beside his bed.

"W-where are we? What happened" Jaune asked as he let himself be pushed back down onto the bed.

"Just rest, your in the infirmary. You, Weiss and, Nora got beaten pretty badly by Yang." Pyrrha said as she returned to her seat. "Nora was released about two hours ago and is at the cafeteria with Ren. Weiss was also released after a few short exams. You three were the only ones not to regain consciousness when the match was over."

Jaune thought back to the fight. He remembered them holding Yang at bay until they made a dust cloud, then everything went to hell. Yang brought down Pyrrha and threw the entire team into disarray. The last thing he remembered was hearing some one call him a fool and turning to see Yang's piercing red eyes starring into his own before he felt a sharp pain in his jaw.

"So Yang beat me huh." Jaune put on a depressed face. He had been training with Pyrrha everyday so that he could keep up with the students here, only to have Yang defeat him without breaking a sweat. Pyrrha saw his face and frowned.

"Jaune, don't feel bad. Yang was a force to be reckoned with even before she was exiled. We were just ill prepared to face her when she challenged us." Pyrrha said as she tried her best to boost his confidence.

"I guess... Say, how did she defeat you with only her gun? I've seen you take way more than just four blasts and keep fighting." Jaune asked as he propped himself up on his elbow.

Pyrrha let out a low sigh. "I was wondering that myself. I asked Professor Port about that and he said that she was using unstable dust in her shells. We just weren't using enough of our Aura to defend ourselves. I just don't understand why a brand of dust so powerful isn't being used against the Grimm." Pyrrha had been asking herself the same question over and over in her mind while she waited for Jaune to awaken.

Jaune looked out the window to see the shattered moon was low in the sky. "So what time is it? How long was I out for?" He asked removing the covers from the bed.

Pyrrha watched him stand and walk to the window and followed. "It's six P.M. You were out cold for about six hours after the fight." She gazed out from the window of the infirmary and saw the lights of the city of Vale below.

"I thought you said that Ren and Nora were in the cafeteria, the cafeteria wont open again until seven, how are they getting food?"

"Your headmaster had some of the cooks prepare some food for your team when they woke." Jaune and Pyrrha turned to see Nova walking towards them with a blank look on her face. Jaune smiled.

"Hey Nova. Guess you saw the fight huh? I'm getting better. I think I could even take Alice in a fight." Jaune said as he walked over to his sister.

Nova scoffed. "Please, Alice is top of her class at Atlas, she'd tear you apart." She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. Jaune gave her a hug back then stepped back.

"I don't think that you were ever formally introduced. Nova, this is my partner Pyrrha. Pyrrha, this is the oldest Arc sibling, Nova Arc." Pyrrha and Nova bowed slightly to each other.

"Yes, I had heard you were paired with a strong fighter. A shame that your team was so utterly destroyed by that Yang girl. I had expected more from you Jaune." Nova gave him a disappointed glare before looking to Pyrrha. "I was sent to collect you. Headmaster Ozpin wishes to speak to us. Jaune, you can find the rest of your team with Professor Orion and Leo in the cafeteria." Nova then turned and began to walk to the door.

Jaune looked down to his feet. He felt extremely depressed and began to walk to the door. He turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Pyrrha smiled down at him.

"Don't let her get to you Jaune. You did fine. Yang was just more than we could handle at the time."

Jaune gave her a sad smile and said, "Yeah, sure." Then walked out of the infirmary, heading towards the cafeteria. Pyrrha walked out and found Nova waiting for her by the elevator to Ozpin's room. She scowled.

"You made Jaune feel really bad about that match today. Why did you scold him like that?" Pyrrha asked as they boarded the elevator. Nova pressed one of the buttons and the room shook as it began to move upward.

Nova turned to Pyrrha. "I said it to him because he needs to hear it. After you went down he stopped focusing on the enemy and that cost his team two members and the victory. With your reputation and powers, I'm surprised that you were defeated."

Pyrrha looked ahead at the door, waiting for it to open. "I believe in training Jaune with a positive method. And the defeat came due to lack of preparation." Pyrrha heard Nova snort and turned to her with an annoyed face. "Did I say something funny?"

"The ones at the top always have an excuse for when they lose don't they. 'Lack of preparation.' I counted at least seven opportunity's missed to defeat the opponent that none of you took." Nova looked at Pyrrha's face. She was glaring at her with very red cheeks. Nova laughed. "Don't get mad at me for telling you the truth. You can't train Jaune without pointing out his faults, or he'll never work to improve them." As she finished her sentence the doors to the elevator parted, revealing the Headmasters room.

Glynda and Professor Tyme turned to greet the visitors while Ozpin sat in his chair typing away at the keys. Ozpin turned away from the screen and saw that his guests had arrived and pressed a button that revealed General James Ironwood's face on the big screen behind them. He greeted the people on the other end of the video feed and looked to Ozpin.

"Where is Qrow? He should be here for this." The General asked while scanning the room.

Ozpin waved his hand to dismiss the question. "Qrow has assured me that he will arrive when he can. From what I've heard he's helping Taiyang punish Yang for her behavior today." The General nodded and turned to Pyrrha.

"Hello Pyrrha, I saw the match earlier. Why didn't you activate your powers? You could have easily beaten Miss Xiao Long with your full power."

Pyrrha made to speak before she was interrupted by Glynda. "That is why you were called General. When Miss Nikos began to activate her powers, Miss Xiao Long quickly dispatched her. We need to assume that Yang has somehow learned of the existence of the Maidens." Pyrrha looked to Glynda in surprise.

"She saw me activating my powers?" Glynda nodded.

"I saw her attack the second your eye began to glow. It may have been a coincidence, and she may have merely been following up on her attack in order to defeat you faster, but we can't afford to take a chance that your powers have been discovered by someone that doesn't have your best interest's at heart. We don't want a repeat of what happened to Amber." Glynda walked swiftly to Ozpin's desk and stood beside him.

"Yes, well... We can not simply assault a student on the grounds that they may have learned the existence of the Maidens." Ozpin said as he rose to his feet and walked to the window. "Never the less, we need to keep a close watch on Miss Xiao Long. I don't know what happened to her out there, but it seems to have changed her."

"You don't know the half of it Ozpin" Everyone turned to the elevator as Qrow entered.

"Ah, Qrow, Glad that you could join us. Er, why are you wearing a suit and tie?" Glynda asked as he walked past her.

"I have a... Date? Yeah a date. Taiyang arranged it. Says I need to find a woman. Anyway, that's not why I came here. This is why I'm here." Qrow said as he held up a piece of folded and dusty paper.

Ozpin turned to him with a questioning stare. "And what pray tell is that?"

Qrow began to unfold the paper until it became a large map. He laid it out on Ozpin's desk and took a step back.

"What is that?" The General asked as he scanned over the map with the camera.

"Well this." Qrow pointed to the left center of the map. "Is Remnant. At least, its as much of the map that the civilian world is allowed to see. Our world is massive, and the Grimm inhabit so much of it, that large scale expeditions and expansions fail before they get too far. Aquatic Grimm and Nevermore's make traveling away from the continent that we have sectioned off near impossible." Qrow said as he traced a small eight by ten inch spot on the map that made up the world that Humans and Faunus inhabit.

"Yes, we know of the hidden world that the public cannot enter, but what does this have to do with the conversation?" Glynda asked as she looked over the dusty old map.

"Yang got this in the old Schnee Dust mine on the Island she was living on. The Schnee know about the True Remnant, and Yang has every intention to go there herself!"

Ozpin turned his attention to Qrow. "Why in the world would she want to got to the True World? The Grimm there are far more deadly than the Grimm here in the Human world."

Qrow growled slightly. "She found traces of her mother in the dust mine. All of the evidence suggest that she left for the True Remnant before disappearing."

Glynda turned to Qrow. "She found Ravens trail? She's been missing for years."

"No, not Raven. Her other mother. She found Summer's mission orders from when she disappeared." All eyes in the room turned to Qrow from his shocking news.

"Qrow, why would she need to go to True Remnant to find Summer? She is buried in Cliffside Forest." Ozpin stated as he turned the map to get a better view.

"We both know that she's not buried there Oz. They never found her body, we're not even sure if she's dead or not." Qrow said as he removed his flask from his belt and took a swig.

"Excuse me!" Everyone turned behind them to see Nova and Pyrrha were standing there with very confused looks on their faces. "I thought you need to tell us something Professor Ozpin."

Ozpin smiled and nodded. "Yes of course, my apology's, I got carried away discussing this new situation. Professor Tyme, I believe you have the information."

Professor Tyme nodded and opened his gloved hand. There was a marking on his palm that resembled a sapphire with a swirling shadow in the center that began to glow before it displayed the image of an elderly man calmly walking around a room, grabbing various bottles of spices and herbs before throwing them into a pot in the center of the room. The old man didn't seem to notice that he was being watched and began to stir the pot.

"So, Who's that?" Nova asked as she walked forward. "I've never heard you mention anyone like this before." She watched the man as he began to go into a coughing fit before a small bird brought him a vile of pink liquid.

"That, Nova, Is the source of all the Maidens power. That is the wise Wizard Merlin. Centuries ago when the four original Maidens came to visit him he was still a hermit, he had yet to do the things that cemented himself in the legends of time." Pyrrha walked closer and saw that the old man seemed to be sick.

"He's dying." She said as the bird brought him a gnarled staff to prop himself up with.

"Yes. I'm afraid he is indeed dying. He has lived for over a thousand years, and even with his great powers, he cannot hold on much longer." The old man in the image walked to his stew pot before waving his hand. A bowl from the counter flew over to his hand and a spoon began to fill the bowl.

"So just find out who will be that last one in his thoughts and safe guard them." Nova said as she watched the old man take a seat and begin to eat.

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple. Merlin has never passed on his power. The man you see before you is in fact, the same hermit that gave the power of the seasons to the Maidens." Ozpin said as he walked over to Tyme's side. "This man has never explained to us what will happen when he passes on."

"That's because I never needed to Ozpin." They looked to the image and saw that Merlin had begun to look toward them and speak. "You damn kids are always snooping!"

Pyrrha looked shocked. "He could hear us?!" Merlin turned towards Pyrrha.

"Not usually no. My projection only lets us hear and see. It doesn't let us talk back to the other side." Tyme said as he watched Merlin grab his staff and stand.

"Then how can he hear us?" Pyrrha asked.

"Because I'm a Wizard Dear Maiden. No, I suppose your not a full Maiden yet. Your powers have been split." Merlin said as he watched Pyrrha's reaction. Merlin suddenly vanished from sight before reappearing in the room with the rest of them. Professor Tyme closed his glove and exhaled before taking a step back. Merlin was an average sized man, with a long deep purple robe and a pointed hat that fell to the right about half way up. He had a long grey beard and had soft silver eyes. Under his robe you could see he wore grey pants with brown shoes and a undershirt.

Pyrrha jumped as the man suddenly appeared in front of her. He turned and bowed to the two Maidens then looked at Ozpin. "You and your secret society always meddling in the lives of my Maidens. How long has your society existed now? One, two centuries?" Merlin asked as he walked to the map.

"My personal involvement has only been for about forty-five years, but the society has existed now for one hundred and eighty years." Ozpin said as he walked to Merlin's side.

Merlin placed a pair of glasses over his eyes and scanned the map. "Where did you get this map?" He asked turning to Ozpin.

"A student of ours had it in her possession. Why? Do you recognize the map?"

Merlin waved his hand and the map flipped over. He ran his palm across the paper revealing a hidden signature. "I should hope I would recognize the map, I was the one who drew it." The golden letters on the back read 'Property of Merlin' and seemed to sparkle slightly.

"Then maybe you can help us figure out what this old map was doing in a rundown old dust mine off the coast of Atlas." Qrow said as he placed his hands on the desk and starred at Merlin, awaiting his answer.

Merlin paused before speaking. "I haven't seen this map since I drew it three hundred years ago. I gave it to the Maiden of Winter before the four of them left."

Qrow sighed. 'Back to step one then.'

"What about explaining what a civilian was doing with knowledge of True Remnant to begin with Merlin." The General asked as he starred at him through the monitor.

"Now, now James, I don't live in any of your kingdoms, so having a map of True Remnant is not illegal for me. Remember, I drew this three hundred years ago. Back when you humans we still exploring the whole planet, before the wars and Grimm ripped your civilization apart and limited you to this small piece of land." Merlin said as he scolded the man on the screen.

"You live outside the kingdoms?" Pyrrha asked as she walked up to the map.

Merlin turned to her with a smile. "Yes, I live here." He pointed to a large continent far outside of Vale, in the middle of the map of True Remnant. "I have lived there for close to five hundred years."

Pyrrha looked at the place where the man had pointed. "How do you live outside the protection of the kingdoms without worry of Grimm attacks?"

Merlin chuckled. "When you have the power of magic, you can protect yourself from most anything." Merlin raised his hand and a glyph appeared and a small Grimm appeared in his palm. It looked around the room before disintegrating.

"Well, as fun as this has been, I need to go. Taiyang will kill me if he finds out I skipped out on this date." Qrow said as he said his goodbyes and walked to the elevator. They watched as the doors slid shut behind him before turning back to Merlin.

Nova was the first to speak. "So, when you die, how will your powers be transmitted?" Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose from the girls bluntness.

"Straight to the point then is it? Fine. Yes, it is true, I am dying. My power will not follow the same pattern that the Maidens do. My power will be given to what ever hero proves themselves worthy of attaining such great magical power." Merlin said as he turned to Nova.

Nova's face lit up. "So there will be a battle!?" She had a very excited tone to her voice. There was a loud thud as Nova fell to the floor clutching her head. Merlin retracted his staff and spoke.

"No you damned fool! My power will not be given to some stupid brute who can beat another into submission! My power will be given by myself personally when I find a hunter or huntress worthy of having the powers of Merlin!"

"Then how will you decide who the hero is?" Pyrrha asked as she glanced to Nova, still clutching her head.

Merlin grinned. "I'm glad you asked. I have left a powerful weapon on an island in True Remnant. Who so ever manages to retrieve the weapon, and can prove that they are worthy to wield it, shall be granted the powers of Merlin." He pointed to a small circular island in the bottom right corner of the map. "That is the location of the weapon. I will die in exactly six months. If by that time, no one has claimed the weapon, then my powers shall be dispersed throughout the world to all of its creatures."

The General was the first to speak. "Then it is simple. We send a Atlas military convoy to the island and-" But Ozpin Cut him off.

"James, you know that we can't do that. The Nevermore outside the Human world are far more powerful than those within our borders. The convoy would be destroyed before it ever got close to the island."

"Then what do you suggest we do Ozpin!?" Ironwood shouted.

Ozpin walked to the window and saw Qrow stepping into a small airship before it took off. Ozpin felt a smile creep onto his face. "Why not send Qrow."

"What." The General and Glynda both looked at Ozpin like he had gone mad.

"We send Qrow. He is a very skilled hunter, and has the means to reach the island within the required time frame." Ozpin turned to see that Merlin had vanished. He took a sip of his coffee and walked back to the group.

"And what will you do if Merlin deems him not worthy? We don't have any way to communicate with True Remnant and we don't have time for him to go and come back with nothing!" James shouted as Ozpin walked past the monitor.

"Then he will not go alone." He turned to Pyrrha and Nova. "I will send Teams RWBY and JNPR with him."

Glynda's mouth fell open. She trusted Ozpin with her life and the lives of every Human and Faunus in Vale, but now she felt like she had missed something in the previous conversation. "Ozpin, you can't really be suggesting that we send students into True Remnant can you!?"

Ozpin turned to her and nodded. "Very well, I shall send Winter with as well to safe guard her sister. But Ozpin, if by the fifth month, we haven't heard anything back, I'm sending the Atlesian Military into True Remnant to collect the weapon." With that the image on the screen vanished.

Tyme looked to Ozpin and spoke. "I shall inform Orion and Leo of our departure." With that said he turned and walked to the elevator.

"Wait!" Nova shouted. "What the hell's going on?!"

Tyme turned back to Nova and said. "We're going on an adventure! Pack your things, we'll be gone for a good while." And entered the elevator. Nova sprinted over to join him and the doors slid shut behind them.

Glynda and Pyrrha turned to Ozpin and starred. He took another sip of his coffee and frowned. He looked down and sighed. "I'm going to need to brew another pot." He then turned and walked to a table in the corner before pressing a button and beginning to brew another pot.

Glynda sighed and turned to Pyrrha. "Inform your team and team RWBY that they should be prepared to leave in one week." Pyrrha nodded before walking to the elevator and waiting for the cart to return.

She turned to see Ozpin poring more coffee into his cup before offering some to Glynda. She sighed. 'He doesn't seem to be all that worried.' She turned and enter the elevator and watched Glynda talking with Ozpin as the doors slid shut.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Location in Minstral**

Cinder walked down the hall of the Inn that her team was staying in, watching as random bits of data flew by on the screen she was holding. She sighed and opened the door to their room. Inside she found Mercury laying on the bed reading a comic book while Emerald was sitting in a chair on her scroll. Cinder smiled as she strode over to the window.

"So, Blondie's back in Vale. Heh, I figured she'd have died in the wild." Mercury said as he turned the page.

"Hell of a welcome back party they threw for her too. Nearly all of beacon was waiting for her on the landing pad and in the court yard." Emerald said as she lowered her scroll.

Cinder nodded then turned to her team. "And how does she show her thanks? She thrashes two of the top second year teams single-handedly. Sounds like she's gotten stronger."

"Well she couldn't get much weaker." Mercury said as he closed his comic.

Emerald snorted. "That's why she handed you your ass five months ago?"

Mercury glared at his partner. "I let her win and you know it."

Emerald giggled. "I don't know Merc, it looked to me like you got beaten pretty badly."

Cinder rolled her eyes at her teams ongoing argument and turned back to the window. She looked down and saw Neo sitting on the tree branch below the window twirling her umbrella. She knocked on the window and guestured for her to come back into the room.

*Knock Knock Knock*

The rooms occupants turned to the door before Emerald walked over and looked out the peephole. She looked back to Cinder and whispered. "It's Adam." Cinder waved for her to let the Bull Faunus into the room. Adam entered the room and walked over to stand before Cinder.

"The plan went smoothly. The White Fang have successfully infiltrated the government of Minstral."

Cinder smiled. "And what of your partner?"

" _Oh things are going smoothly over here too!_ " A staticky voice came over the speakers on her scroll. " _You Idiot! Quick, engage the thrusters! I know they're shooting at us Perry I can see the holes!_ " Cinder flipped on her scrolls screen and saw Roman Torchwick standing in front of a control panel for an airship.

"Ah Roman, glad you could join us." Mercury said with no attempt to cover his sarcasm.

Cinder shot him a look to be quiet and looked back to her scroll. "Roman, I trust that your escape is going well."

" _How the hell do you think it's going?! You sent two of the most incompetent members of the White Fang to break me out, and now we have the entire Atlesian military chasing us. Lieutenant! Get these two on the guns!_ " Roman barked orders to his comrades on his side as Cinder glared back at him.

"Roman, I can't stress enough how important the cargo that ship is carrying is to our plan." Cinder said as she watched the blurry man on the other end scrambling to use the ships controls.

" _Yeah? Then maybe you should have sent more than three members to break me out! And another thing, you still haven't told me what this big plan is!_ " Roman slammed his cane down on the console and the picture cleared up enough for the group to see what his side was dealing with. Roman was standing at the helm of the Nautilus. The prized flagship of the Atlesian military, and was trying to steer the ship away from Atlas airspace before the surface to air cannons tore it to shreds. Perry and Deery were scrambling to make use of the ships guns and return fire, while the Lieutenant was guarding the door to the bridge.

"As long as the cargo reaches us, I have no need of the ship." Cinder said as she reached for the power button on the side, but Adams hand shot out and caught her.

"Actually, we may have a use for that ship." Cinder's eye brow rose slightly and she looked to Adam.

"Do tell?"

He reached into his pocket and retrieved his scroll. He opened it and revealed the access code for Ozpin's desk. He opened a file and showed Cinder the recent conversation concerning Merlin and his powers.

Cinder's lips curled up into a wicked smile. "Strike that, Roman. If that ship is not in working order by the time you get here, I'm going to send Mercury and Emerald after you." Before he could respond she closed the scroll and looked up to Adam. "Now then, I believe you said your mission was completed. Do you have what we need?"

Adam reached into his coat and removed a bright glowing crystal in a jar and handed it to Cinder. "The power source of Penny Polendina. Without this, she can't access any of her higher functions. She's nothing more than a regular robot now."

"A regular robot with a lazer capable of cutting airships in half." Mercury said sarcastically as he walked over to the crystal.

"Without this she can't activate her weapons, emotions or her memories. She is no longer a threat to us. Once Roman gets here with the ship, we can begin the hunt."

* * *

Winter walked down the streets of Vale with a formal dress on. She was trying to find her way to a rather extravagant restaurant that her mother had booked her a joint reservation at. As Weiss was the Heiress to the company, Winters job was simple. Marry a powerful family so they could increase the Schnee dust company's presence in Remnant. Tonight, she was doing just that. Her mother had set her up on a blind date with a man from a powerful huntsman family, and the son of a very prominent weapon distributor.

While she had not been told the mans name, her mother had assured her that she would get along very well with the man, as she put it, 'You both have a very confrontational personalities.'"

Turning a corner she saw the restaurant and made for the door. She had left her weapon back on her airship and had gotten lost in Vale half an hour ago.

'Damn this city and its lack of maps.' She thought as she walked into the restaurant. 'I hope that this my being late doesn't negatively effect his impression of the Schnee family.' She quickly walked to the host and said. "Joint reservation under Schnee." The host looked up with surprise and smiled.

"Ah yes! Right this way please. We've reserved the finest table we have for you." They walked into the elevator and rode it up several stories until they arrive at the Sky Lobby above Vale. The finest and most expensive restaurant in Vale, it boasts a five star rating and professional cooks from all four kingdoms. The dining area for the restaurant was in a circular lobby high above the city of Vale. The host lead Winter to a table by the window, starring out over the east portion of Vale, with beacon academy in the distance on top of the cliff.

Winter took her seat and thanked the host before he left. Winter turned to the view of the city before her scroll began to ring. She reached into her purse and pulled out the small device before answering.

"Hello? This is Winter Schnee."

"Schnee! Where the hell are you?!" It was General Ironwoods shouting through the speakers.

"Sir! My apology's, I thought that I had told you I was away on family business in Vale." Winter replied with as much respect as she could muster on the short notice.

"In Vale? Why the hell are you in- Are you wearing Make Up?" The surprise in the Generals voice was evident.

Winter blushed slightly out of embarrassment. "Er, yes sir, I am. My mother arranged a... Date, for me."

The General was stunned. "A date? For you."

"Yes sir."

...

...

...

The General quickly regained his composure and spoke with great haste. "Well I called you so you could help but seeing that you are not even in the kingdom, I'll just have you stay there and wait for your orders."

"Forgive me for prying General, but why the sudden urgency?" Winter asked as she starred back down at the device in her hands.

"The White Fang staged a prison break and freed Roman Torchwick. He escaped by stealing the Nautilus."

Winter was shocked. "The Nautilus sir? You mean our Flagship!?"

"Yes. No matter, you are currently out of range to help us at the moment. Tomorrow I will send you your orders. Until then, I'll make arrangements for you to stay at Beacon. Out." And the Generals face vanished.

Winter lowered the scroll back into her purse and shook slightly. 'The Nautilus is a warship capable of leveling half a kingdom. How did Torchwick manage to steal it, and what is he planning to do with it?' She asked herself in her head.

The host returned moments later and placed a menu in front of her and another across from her. "Here you are mister Xiao Long."

"No, that's who the reservation is under, its my brother, I'm Branwen"

Winter felt a cold shiver race up her spine as she turned in the direction of the familiar voice.

"No!" She said in shock.

The man turned to Winter and his eyes widened. "Ice queen!"

Qrow and Winter starred at each other for a moment before a furious look came over Qrow's face and he yelled. "TAIYANG!"

* * *

 **And thus ends chapter two. Leave a review if you enjoyed the chapter and stick around if you want to see what happens with the rest of the cast.**


	3. The Journey Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 **Outdoor Training Arena**

"Again." Taiyang said as he pressed the red button on the console in front of him. The doors in the arena below opened and twenty combat droids quickly filed out before going on the offensive. each on quickly transformed their arms into blades before leaping at Yang, who was recovering from the last wave. Off to the sides of the arena lay close to fifty destroyed and mangled robots.

Yang quickly went to work dismembering the various robots before her while using her remaining gauntlet to block the incoming blades.

Ruby stood next to her father and watched her sister below with a frown. "Shouldn't you give her a break? This is the fourth wave you've sent after her." She watched as one of the larger robots grabbed her by her leg and slammed her into the ground.

Taiyang stood there with a low glare as he watched his eldest daughter nearly get impaled by one of the smaller robots. "No."

Yang was slowing down from the constant onslaught of combat droids. This had been going on everyday for the past five days since Taiyang saw his daughters fight. She was given very little time to eat, sleep and rest while her father was punishing her. She had been woken up at dawn and been forced to train until dusk each day, and each day's training was more and more harsh.

"But dad, she looks like she's about to fall over! Even her aura can't keep up with all the damage she's taking!" Ruby said as she watched some of Yang's larger cuts stop healing.

"Then she should have thought about the consequences before she acted like a brat when she returned." Taiyang said as he watched Yang dispatch the final small android and go to work against the remaining large ones. Each droid had a different gun and blade combo, and were designed to train adult hunters. The first with a combo of a shotgun and broadsword leapt at Yang. Blocking with Ember Celica she moved the blade away before taking a blast from the gun in her abdomen.

"Dad, are you sure she can handle those? I've seen entire teams lose to one of them, but three?" Ruby said as she watched Yang struggle to her feet.

"I'm not unfair Ruby. They've been programmed to only go after he one at a time. If she can beat these three, I have only got one more robot for her to fight before she can rest." Taiyang said as he patted Ruby on the head. There was a sharp creaking sound that erupted from the arena as Yang lifted a chunk of the arena over her head and threw it at the droid. Catching the large slab of metal the droid threw it aside and turned to see Yang gone. Turing around to look it scanned the arena before looking straight up.

Yang came down on top of the droids head fast and smashed it into the ground causing a large dent to appear in the metal floor. Pushing away from the fallen droid, she turned to see the second wrap a metallic whip around her waist and drag her into the air. She brought her arms to cover her face as she was bombarded by a hail of bullets from the assault rifle on its other arm. Feeling a sharp jerk she was brought to the floor of the arena at blinding speeds before the whip unraveled.

Ruby looked down at the arena with concern. Yang had been hidden with another dust cloud just as she had when they fought. She looked around the arena expecting to see her sister attacking the droid from all angles with her weapon, but she couldn't find Yang. She looked back with surprise to see Yang pulling herself to her feet in the cloud and glaring at the droid.

"She didn't use the cloud to her advantage? In our fight when we made the cloud she destroyed us." Ruby said as Yang leapt at the droid.

"The droid's not giving her a chance to use it. In your fight, you all foolishly surrounded the cloud at a very close range. Yang's weapon favors mid to close range attacks and she was able to press her advantage." Taiyang watched as his daughter was grabbed by the whip again and thrown to the opposite side of the arena. "This droid favors mid to far ranged attacks with the whip and assault rifle."

*Click*

Taiyang and Ruby turned to see Blake walk into the room with them and look down at Yang. She frowned. "How's she doing?"

"She's still being stubborn. She wont admit defeat even though she's exhausted." Ruby said as she turned back to Yang.

Taiyang's eyebrow rose a little. "So, Ruby. You going to introduce me to your little friend?" Taiyang said as he looked at Blake.

Ruby jumped slightly before turning to her dad. "Oh! Right, you haven't met my team yet have you? Dad, this is Blake. She's Yang's partner."

Blake turned to Taiyang and shook his hand before turning her attention back to Yang. She grabbed the whip as it tried to wrap itself around her arm and dragged the droid to her. It began to fire its gun as it got closer and closer to Yang. She took the bullets damage as she gave one final pull that dragged the droid into the air right above Yang. She quickly shoved her fist into its chest and yanked out several circuits as it passed. The droid landed on the ground with a loud thud and sparked for a second before the lights on its face went dark.

Yang turned to the last droid only to narrowly avoid a rocket that had been aimed directly at her. She glanced down at her scroll and saw that her aura was at close to forty percent. She growled slightly as she charged the droid, jumping from side to side to avoid the rockets that came her way. Reaching the droid she quickly moved out of the way as a scimitar sliced into the floor where she was standing. The droid had transformed both of its arms into scimitars and began a relentless assault with the blades. Yang was having trouble blocking and countering the quick strikes.

Yang was being forced back into the center of the arena with each successive strike from the droid. She felt her heel slam into something and she lost her balance. She glanced down and saw that she had tripped over the remains of the first droid with the shotgun and panicked. 'Shit!' She turned back to see the droid she was fighting slam both blades into her chest and abdomen and throw her across the arena.

Yang crashed into a pile of downed droids and grabbed at her spinning head. Focusing back on the fight she saw the droid quickly making its way over to her. She quickly looked to her side and grabbed the gun from one of the fallen droids and aimed it at her attacker. The droid leapt into the air and brought its scimitars down on Yang as she pulled the trigger.

There was a resounding bang as the gun discharged and slammed into the droids head, tearing it off and sending it rolling to the side. The droids body fell don onto Yang before she could roll away.

Ruby cheered Yang on from the stands, shouting praise as her sister kicked the downed droid off of her and climbed to her feet. Yang looked up at her dad with a tired expression.

Taiyang starred back down at Yang with the same look he'd had for the entire training period. "Yang, you leave for a mission with your team in two days. This will be our last session, You have one droid left to fight. but seeing as you only have about thirty percent of your aura left, I leave the choice to you." Taiyang watched as Yang nodded and sighed. "Very well. This will not be a fight you can win." He reached down and moved a box off of a button and pressed it. The center of the arena split and Yang struggled to maintain her balance. In the center of the arena a platform rose form the darkness with a large metal box with the Atlas logo over it.

The box split and a shiver ran down Blake's spine. Her eyes widened as she starred into the face of the same brand of droid that she and Adam had faced the last time she saw him. The Spider droid made a high pitched noise as it sprang to life. Slamming each leg onto the ground it focused its optics on Yang and aimed each cannon down at her.

Yang starred back up at the massive machine with a shocked look. "Shit!" She said as she quickly began to move to the left.

"Begin!"

The droid went on the offensive instantly, firing a barrage of well aimed missiles at Yang. Yang used Ember Celica to propel herself out of the way of the blast each time but she was running out of ammo. Turning quickly Yang dove below the Spider droid and began to assault the underside of the machine with a series of rapid punches to each joint on its legs. The droid quickly slammed itself down on top Yang before kicking her out of the way.

Yang rolled to a stop several meters away from the machine before hearing the sound of metal shifting. She turned to see that the four cannons on the droid had merged into one and began to charge a large blast. She tried to get to her feet before it fired, but she was too late. The Spider droid fired its massive cannon and slid back a few feet. The blast traveled extremely fast and slammed into Yang, throwing her into the wall of the arena with a loud crash. Yang fell to the ground with a thud and watched as the droid walked over to her.

She looked up at the droid as its guns began to charge. "Enough!" She saw the droids cannons power down and the droid stepped back and went dormant. She looked over and saw her father with Ruby and Blake running over to her. She felt herself losing consciousness and let her eyes drift shut. Taiyang and the girls reached Yang and saw that she was unconscious.

"Take her back to your dorm. She needs to rest before your mission." He said as he looked over the arena, and at the mountain of destroyed robots his daughter had left behind and smiled. 'She's just like her mother.'

* * *

 **Guest Dorm**

"I can't believe that my mother set me up with you of all people!" Winter said as she marched around the room. Qrow sat on the bed on the opposite side of the room throwing a ball into the air and catching it.

"You know, it wasn't exactly ideal for me either Ice queen." Qrow said as he turned to Winter.

"No, of course not. You were only set up with the eldest daughter of the largest dust producer and exporter in the world. I on the other hand had my mother set me up with some alcoholic hunter with no respect for authority!" Winter shouted as she pulled her clothes from the closet and threw them into a suitcase.

"And having to spend the week locked in a room with a spoiled brat for the past week was certainly on my to do list." Qrow said as he rose to his feet and threw the ball into the hall.

"I am not a brat." Winter said as she clipped her weapon onto her belt.

"Didn't deny the spoiled part." Qrow said as he lifted his suitcase over his shoulder and walked to the door. Winter grabbed her suitcase and followed. They walked through the halls of Beacon on the way to the landing pad.

"So why are we leaving two days early again? I can't see a plausible reason for us to not wait the full week." Winter asked as she trailed behind Qrow.

"Because Ozpin and Jimmy are in a bind with the Nautilus missing, and I want to hurry up and find this all powerful weapon before someone else does." Qrow said as he opened the door to the side stairs. Quickly descending the steps he passed a window and saw the rest of the teams had assembled in front of the Leviathan. The Leviathan was Vale's answer to the Nautilus, each of the four kingdoms had a flagship built for them by the legendary ship wright Geppetto. Vale was the first one to be given their ship, in the form of the Leviathan, while Atlas received the Nautilus, Vacuo received the Argo and, Minstral received the Ark.

Each ship was vastly different from the rest, with the Ark being the largest, the Argo was the fastest, the Nautilus is the most combat ready and the Leviathan is the one which is the most capable of supporting life. The inside of the Leviathan was a maze of terrariums with vast fields of crops and locations for storing livestock. Each ship was under the direct control of the four hunter Academies, as specified by Geppetto, so as not to give the individual councils more power than the others.

Ozpin had allowed for Qrow and his teams to commandeer the Leviathan for the excursion to True Remnant. The Council had numerous objections to allowing Vale's Flagship to leave the kingdom, but Ozpin quickly reminded them who the control of the ship had been given to.

Qrow and Winter walked through the large double doors at the front of the school and followed the path to the landing zone that now held a massive warship that was usually hidden away in the cavern bellow the beacon cliffs.

"I still can't believe that the old story of the Maidens was true." Winter said as she followed Qrow.

Qrow looked back over his shoulder and rose his eyebrow. "You pick now to become stunned by this news? I told you about this three days ago." Qrow saw her face quickly adopt a scowl before turning to look ahead of him again. "But yeah, hell of a thing to learn aint it."

The two walked in silence until they stopped before teams RWBY, JNPR and TLON. He scanned over the group before speaking. "Thank you all for agreeing to leave early. Of course, even if you hadn't agree'd, we would have simply taken you by force." Qrow said as he greeted the teams. Each member looked at each other before turning back to Qrow.

"Now, I don't want to waste anymore time talking, so I'm going to suggest that we board now and everyone be on their way... Ruby, where is Yang?" Qrow asked as he turned to his niece.

"Dad pushed her really hard today in the arena, so she's already on board the ship recovering." Ruby said as she pulled her bag up off the ground. Qrow nodded and motioned for everyone to board the ship.

* * *

 **The Leviathan**

Ruby, Weiss and, Blake walked into their temporary quarters and found Yang sound asleep on the top bunk in the corner. The room was significantly larger than their room at Beacon, and had several desks, and a small area to the right with a couch and television. On the left wall was a door that led to a full bathroom with a working shower and bath. On the Right side of the room were three pairs of bunk beds and a large dresser and closet.

They set down their bags and each selected their own various bunks, with Ruby and Weiss taking the top and bottom bunks of the first bed, and leaving Blake and Yang to each have their own Bunks. Ruby began to put her clothes into the closet when she heard Nora's excited voice through the wall, JNPR's quarters being directly beside their own. From what she could hear, her friends were settling in nicely.

Ruby left her room and walked through the halls of the massive warship. Each of the four ships were the size of a large town, and could easily support over ten thousand people. She wandered the halls before coming to a large set of door that led to the master suite. She could hear two voices arguing on the other side.

"I don't see why we have to share this room Qrow!" Winter shouted as she marched up to Qrow.

"We don't! This is my room! Your welcome to any other room on this ship!" Qrow said as he moved to meet her in the center of the room.

"And why should I not get this room? I am the ranking officer on this mission!"

"How the hell do you think you're the ranking officer?!"

"I am a high ranking officer in the Atlesian military! I out rank you, who is only a civilian!"

"And you seem to forget! I am the leader of this mission, and this is a Vale military ship!"

Ruby opened the door and saw Qrow and winter at each others throats. Both hunters hands were slowly making their way to their weapons.

"Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow and Winter both turned and saw Ruby in the door with a confused look on her face.

"Ruby! What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with your team." Qrow said as he walked over to his niece.

Ruby looked behind him at Winter. "Are you two staying together?" She asked, the confused look becoming ever more present.

"No. She was just leaving."

"I was not!" Winter shouted as they began to argue more.

Ruby closed the door to their room and turned down the hall. She walked past several large windows showing the land below the cliff as the ship hovered just past it. She opened on of the doors and saw a massive jungle before her with tree's that reached the ceiling and vines covered with bananas and cocoa beans. She walked in and shut the door behind her before seeing some movement to her left. She turned and saw several robots tending to the crops and keeping the forest.

'This ship has it's own jungle... COOL!'

Ruby quickly began to climb the nearest tree until she reached the top. Taking a seat on the top branch she saw that there was several windows at the top of the tree that allowed for light to reach the tops as well as the bottoms. She could see the shattered moon low in the sky as day was quickly becoming night. Looking down she saw the streets of Vale.

"Pretty great view huh?"

Ruby spun around fast with surprise as she saw who the voice belonged to. "SUN?!"

"Hey Ruby. What are you doing up here?" Sun asked as he looked down over the edge of his branch.

"What am I doing, What are you doing?! This is a top secret mission! How did you get on board?!" She asked as she panicked, thinking of what he uncle might say when he found out that they had a stowaway.

"Please, I heard you all talking about in your room. You aren't a very quiet person you know." Sun moved his hand which held a banana peel over a few inches then dropped it. He watched it fall all the way to the ground.

"You still haven't told me how you got on board." Ruby said flatly.

"I helped him." She looked down a few feet and saw Neptune hanging on a lower branch trying to get his footing. "Dang it Sun, How do you make this look so easy?"

"Because it is easy." Sun said as he watched one of the robot caretakers slip on the banana peel. "Yes!" He cheered as he watched the robot fall on its back.

Ruby giggled slightly before getting serious again. "But why are you guys here?"

"I can answer that Miss Rose." She turned yet again and saw Professor Oobleck standing on a platform high on the wall.

"Professor?"

"Dr.! I got the PH.D for a reason Miss Rose. Now then, I was asked to accompany your teams on this by a student." Oobleck said as he raised the platform up to Neptune's height and dragged him on to it. "We can't have you falling and hurting yourself now can we Mr. Vasilias."

Ruby gave Oobleck a confused look before speaking. "A student asked you? Who asked you to go with us?"

Oobleck reached into his coat and pulled out his scroll before tossing it to Ruby. "She did."

The screen lit up and Ruby began to smile. "Penny! You're okay!" Ruby was pleased to see her friend again after five months. Last time she had seen her, she had been torn to pieces by Pyrrha in a fight.

Penny kept smiling and nodded. "Hello Ruby. How are you? I see that you have left for your mission already. That is good."

Ruby gave Penny a confused look. "How did you know about my mission?"

Penny continued to smile. "Before my heart was stolen, I uploaded my entire database to the Atlas mainframe. Through that I have contacted The Professor and requested that he assist you."

Ruby could hear Oobleck mumbling something about no one ever remembering the Dr. title before she asked. "What do you mean your heart was stolen?"

Penny's smile disappeared for the first time and she adopted a serious face. "My bodies power source is called 'The Heart', and it was stolen last week. I have no further control of my body."

Ruby scanned her friends face for signs of joking, but she couldn't find any. Ruby turned to Professor Oobleck and asked. "Professor is this true?"

Oobleck had an annoyed look on his face. "I'm afraid so Miss Rose. I was asked by Miss Polendina to find and return her Heart."

"But how can you find her Heart out in True Remnant?" Ruby asked as she handed Penny back to Oobleck.

"You and your team always seem to bump into trouble while away on a mission. And seeing as how the group that stole Miss Polendina's Heart is the same group that you have a tenancy to encounter. I deduced that the fastest way to find her Heart would be to accompany your team." Oobleck said as he turned off his scroll and placed it back inside his coat.

"Yeah, and we just wanted to go on another adventure with you guys." Sun said as he dropped another banana peel.

All at once the ship shook violently as the engine's roared to life. Oobleck grabbed Neptune's collar and held him on the platform as Sun caught Ruby with his tail. The looked down and Saw Qrow and Winter sprint past the room towards the bridge.

"Well, it would appear that we are making an unscheduled departure." Oobleck said as he pulled a lever and the platform began to descend. Sun and Ruby followed suit on the vines before exiting the room and following Qrow and Winter through the halls. On the way to the bridge Ruby saw several more large rooms like the one she found the stowaways in, including a large grain farm, a large water reservoir and a room with countless stables, each holding a different farm animal.

Upon reaching the bridge they saw a large room with close to a hundred monitors, dozens of robots sitting at consoles and one large robot standing on a raised platform in the center gripping a large wheel. Scanning the room she could see Qrow and Winter heading towards the large robot and she could see Yang standing beside it giving it directions.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted as she followed her Uncle.

Yang turned and saw her uncle sprinting up the steps of the platform behind her, with ruby and Winter at the bottom.

"What do you think you're doing Yang?!" Qrow yelled as he grabbed at the large robot. He tried to shut down the robot but nothing was working, and he couldn't destroy it, since the robot was the ships captain. He turned the robot to face him. "Where is this ship heading soldier?"

The Captain rose to his full height and got into a salute. "Sir the Leviathan is currently following the course plotted by Admiral Xiao Long!" The Captain stood completely still as Qrow turned to Yang.

"Admiral Xiao Long?" Qrow asked with an annoyed face.

"Not my fault you didn't meet with the Captain before I did." Yang said as she turned to the Captain. "At ease solider." And the Captain relaxed and turned back to the helm.

Qrow growled slightly. "So, let me guess. He's only going to be listening to you then, hmm?"

Yang chuckled. "Nope, there's a chart over there that shows the ranks. Everything above Captain will be able to give him orders. There's one rank above Admiral, and that's Fleet Admiral."

Qrow turned to the chart and saw that there were five spots above Captain. "So I'll just be the Fleet Admiral then." Qrow said as he turned back to Yang, but she shook her head.

"Can't, I tried. Someone already took that title before I got here." Yang said as she turned down the stairs. Qrow quickly told the Captain that he was the Rear Admiral before descending the stairs with Yang.

"So who's the Fleet Admiral then?" Qrow asked as he caught up to his niece.

Yang turned and pointed to a monitor that had Nova and Leo sparring in the ships Arena. "He is."

Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. He let out a long sigh before noticing that the ship was quickly moving in the opposite direction of their destination. He turned to Yang and asked. "So where are we going then. I can't out rank your order until I figure out how to reprogram the Captain."

"We're making a quick stop at my old home. I left something behind and I need to pick it up if were going to be fighting seriously." Yang walked past Ruby and into and elevator. The door slid shut and Qrow turned to Oobleck, Sun and, Neptune. He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"I know I should be very annoyed that we have stowaways... But I'm almost certain that Ozpin knew you were going to do this, and as you can see, I have some other little problems to take care of, so go pick out a dorm to stay in and don't cause anymore trouble." Qrow said as he walked into the other elevator.

Ruby wave to the others as she followed Qrow into the elevator. Quickly following Yang down to the hanger they arrived to see Yang speaking with Professor Tyme near one of the smaller Airships. Walking over to the two they could hear the brief conversation taking place.

"You want to take Leo with you? What ever for?" Tyme asked as he put down the wrench that he was holding.

"I need someone strong down on the ground with me while I go and collect the things I left behind. There are a-lot of Grimm on this Island and I will need some strong back up." Yang said as she noticed her audience.

"Why not take the rest of the team with you Yang?" Ruby asked as she walked over to her sister.

Qrow quickly spoke up. "I haven't approved of anyone leaving the ship yet! I still lead this mission and until I say so, you will not leave this ship Yang."

She turned to her uncle with a low glare before turning back to Ruby. "You guys won't be able to keep up with me."

Ruby looked hurt. "We're not weaklings Yang! We've been out on missions to fight Grimm before too!"

But Yang just shook her head. "Remember what Qrow said? 'One day out there is worth a week in here.' Well he wasn't lying. I learned faster how to survive and better fighting tactics in a month outside the kingdom than I did after four years at signal." Yang was dead serious. "You guys have spent the last five months locked up at Beacon doing small assignments and studying. I spent the last five months fighting for my life in a rundown old dust mine."

Ruby looked down at her feet. She was hurt, less because her sister was still mad, but more because she knew her sister was right. Less that a day after she got back she beat both her team and Jaune's team in the arena, and spent one week fighting combat droids with little to no rest. Ruby looked back up to her sister and nodded.

"At least you can acknowledge that you couldn't do this with me."

Qrow was annoyed. Ever since his niece had gotten back she had been acting more and more like her mother did. She had become a very smug and cruel woman while she was away. The last time he had seen her before she had left she was extremely depressed that no one believed her about the fight, and he had asked her if she had met her mother. They talked for a brief period about her until he left to meet with Ozpin about the Fall Maiden.

Now she was being rude to her sister and seemed to be completely ignoring the fact that he was in charge of this mission, before it even got into full swing. "Yang! I don't care how much you think you've learned while you lived out side the kingdom, but when your back within the kingdom we have rules! When your given a mission by a superior then you do that mission without question and you do it while working with the team assigned to you!" Qrow shouted as he grabbed Yang by the shoulders.

She glared right back into his eyes. "Then where the hell was my team five months ago when they decided I wasn't worth the trouble to keep in the kingdom? Where were you and my father when I was banned by every village and all of the other kingdoms on Remnant for a mistake that no one but the academies thought to acknowledge? What I acknowledge is that right now you are people that need my help, and I will give you it. But I will never recognize you, Ozpin or anyone else as my superior ever again." Yang threw his arms off of her and walked farther into the hanger before turning into the door that lead to the arena.

Qrow was stunned. He never expected his niece to speak to him like that. He turned and saw that Ruby had her head down with small tears falling to the floor. He knelled down and gave her a hug before turning her to face him. "You okay Ruby?" He asked as she shook slightly.

"She's right." Ruby said. "None of us questioned the order or tried to do anything to stop it. We didn't even say goodbye to her. None of us could make it to her trial because we were at the festival cheering on Pyrrha." Tears rolled down her face as she shook more and more. "We didn't even volunteer to be one of the teams to search for her."

Qrow rose to his feet and looked at Tyme. "Make sure that she doesn't leave this ship. Have Leo restrain her if need be but they don't leave this ship." Tyme nodded and headed over to where Yang had gone. Qrow lifted Ruby up onto his chest and walked over tot he elevator and hit the button for the bridge. She was still crying quietly as they rode the elevator up.

The doors to the bridge opened and Qrow's mouth fell open. Ren was running around the bridge trying to catch Rear Admiral Nora while Jaune and Pyrrha tried to help the Captain back up to the helm. Qrow whistled loudly catching the attention of all of the teens in the room. They saw him carrying Ruby and saw the serious look on his face.

"Everyone back to your quarters. NOW!" Qrow shouted and they quickly ran out the door heading back to the barracks. He saw the Captain struggle back up onto his station before he turned and ordered the other robots to make sure that they were still heading to Yang's destination.

Qrow walked out of the bridge and past the various terrariums. He saw Oobleck in the jungle terrarium trying to help the staff with the clean up from Sun, as the robots were not programmed too deal with banana peels every where. He sighed as he continued on before stopping in front of RWBY's room. He opened the door and saw Weiss asleep in her bunk with Neptune in the bottom bunk of the last bed, while Sun and Blake were asleep on the couch.

He walked over to Weiss and placed Ruby into the top bunk of the first bed. She had cried herself to sleep. Qrow watched as she curled into a little ball on the bed and let her mouth hang open.

'No matter how many time she denies it, she's still just a kid.' Qrow thought as he walked over to the TV and switched it off. He walked to the door and turned to scan the room one final time before switching off the lights and closing the door. He didn't see Blake open her eye slightly as it shut. Walking back to his room He growled as he saw that Winter was asleep in the bed. He reached into his bag and pulled out his weapon before walking to the door and closing it loudly.

He collected Professor Orion and Oobleck before walking to the elevators in the bridge. Exiting in the hanger he saw Yang, Tyme, Leo and Nova standing by an open hanger door. They quickly made their way over to the group and heard Nova and Yang arguing.

"And I told you I'm going!" Yang shouted as she reloaded Ember Celica.

"And I said You're not going anywhere!" Nova shouted back as she extended her battleaxe to its full length.

Tyme sighed as he watched the two girls yelling back and forth. He noticed Qrow and Orion and turned to greet them. "Hello Orion, Qrow. As you can see, we've kept her on the ship, but talks seem to be deteriorating fast." Tyme said as he guestured to the weapons being drawn.

"ENOUGH!" Yang yelled. "Leviathan! Subdue the insurrectionists!" The ship shuddered before dozens of robot arms shot out of the floor and wrapped themselves around everyone but Yang and Leo.

"What the? GAH!" Nova shouted as she was yanked into the air along with the rest of the group.

"Good. Keep them there until I have left the ship." Yang said as she turned to the airship beside her. "Come on Leo. We're leaving now."

"Leo! Don't you dare go with her!" Nova shouted as she tried to grab the weapon that had been taken from her hands.

Leo looked to Nova, then to Yang, then back to Nova.

"Leo." Leo turned his head to Tyme. "Keep the girl safe on the ground." Leo nodded his head and turned to go with Yang.

"What!? Why are you letting him go!?" Orion and Nova yelled as they struggled to escape.

"He's the only one on the ship capable of overriding her command on these restraints. It is clear to me that since he didn't do it yet, he wants to go and have some fun on the ground." Tyme said as he relaxed in the restraints.

"Or it's just that he's a complete idiot that didn't think that he could reverse the command!" Nova yelled back. She gagged as the arm around her neck tightened and saw that Leo was glaring up at her.

"Good. Alright Leo, lets go." Yang said. Leo grinned and nodded, Quickly sprinting forward he grabbed Yang around the waist and jumped from the ship. Yang had wanted to take the airship down and panicked. "Wait! AHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as they picked up speed as they fell from the sky.

A sweat drop appeared on the back of Tyme's head. "Then again... Maybe I was a little bit to hasty." The restraints loosened and the group of hunters fell to the floor and grabbed their weapons. Qrow scrambled to the door and looked down to see the two vanish into the canopy before a loud boom echoed through the forest.

"Damn it!" He shouted as he jumped into the airship and started the engines. They sparked for a moment then died. Qrow banged his head against the controls before stepping out of the ship.

"Qrow, look here." Tyme said as he removed his scroll from his pocket. "I have installed a camera in Leo's mask. We can monitor them from here."

Qrow walked over and saw Yang helping Leo out of a crater in the ground. The two brushed themselves off before Yang yelled at Leo and stormed off with Leo in tow. He grumbled something under his breath before sighing. "Fine. We'll pick them up when it looks like they're done. And when they gt back to the ship they're confined to quarters for the rest of the trip!" Qrow yelled as he walked back to the elevator.

* * *

 **Island off the coast of Atlas**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Yang was screaming as they crashed through the canopy on the island forest. She felt Leo pull her into a tight hug before they slammed into the ground with a deafening bang. She covered her ears to try to stop the ringing before she got her bearings. They were on the other side of the island from where she had made camp. She looked down and saw Leo had was laying crumpled in the crater.

She scowled ad yanked him out of the ground before brushing herself off. She looked up to Leo and yelled. "I wanted to use the airship! Now we're on the wrong side of the island!" Yang yelled as she turned and began to walk up a nearby hill.

Leo cracked his neck back into place and shrugged. "Oops." He said as he followed her.

They walked for a short time before reaching the top of the hill. They could see a good portion of the island from their vantage point. Most of the island was full of craters and burned forests from when Yang went into a berserk rage. Scanning the island Yang could see several Goliath's in the distance with a pack of Beowolves in the trees below them. She never really bother to come to this side of the island often as she had no reason to explore.

She could see the mountain with the old dust mine on the other side of the island, and knew that it would be crawling with Grimm, but she needed to get to her old campsite there. Looking up she could see the giant Nevermore circling their nest at the top of the mountain. She looked to her side to see that Leo was focused behind them. She heard a deep growl behind them and spun around to see an Ursa Major standing behind them.

The massive beast's red eyes glared down at the two hunters as it let out a loud roar. Yang turned to see the pack of Beowolves running into the forest and cursed. 'It's calling other Grimm!' She thought as she quickly unfolded Ember Celica. She turned to attack the Ursa Major, but Leo stopped her. Walking forward he let his gauntlets wrap around his arms and chest as the metal on his boots rose to meet the rest of his armor at his waist. The armor slid up to his mask and connected with a mouth plate covering his face. Covered head to toe in black armor with gold trimmings he strode up to the Grimm and stood in front of it.

The Ursa starred down at the challenger and roared before raising it's clawed hand to swipe at Leo. As the claw came down at him Leo raised both hands and caught the paw in the air before throwing the massive beast over his shoulder. The Ursa landed flat on its back as it felt the wind get sucked out of its lungs. Leo stood over its head as he began to inhale air. His chest puffed out and he bent down quickly and released a thunderingly loud and primal roar. Yang's hands flew to cover her ears as the roar made the very ground shake.

When the sound was finally over Yang could hear the ringing in her ears again. She looked back to see Leo's armor retracting back to just his arms and lower legs. The Ursa Major was laying in a deep crater on the ground. She turned and saw that the Beowolves had run back down into the valley and the Goliath's and Giant Nevermore's were starring at the hill.

She turned to Leo with a look of shock. "What the hell was that!?" She shouted.

Leo didn't even look at her, just kept starring at the Ursa. "Up!" He shouted and the Ursa rolled over and began to stand. Yang got into a combat stance before Leo raised his hand and touched the Grimm's head. He looked at Yang. "Semblance, I roar, they listen." He said as he climbed on the back of the Ursa. He lowered a hand to Yang who was still stunned that he could tame and Ursa Major. She took his hand and they set off down the hill.

The ride down was quiet enough. Most Grimm stayed away due to the roar and the Ursa that they were riding. Walking into the clearing of the valley she could see that most of the land had been annihilated when she lost it. She could see the Goliath in the distance and saw that they were still watching them. She turned to Leo.

"So are there any Grimm you can't tame?" Yang asked, trying to kill some time. The moon was high in the sky and was the only source of light they had.

"Big ones." He said as they rode along.

Yang's face twisted into a confused stare. "What do you mean 'Big Ones', The Ursa Major is the largest breed of Ursa there is!" She said as she looked down at the beast they were riding.

Leo turned to the Goliath's. "Those big ones." Then he turned to the Nevermores that were perched on the cliffs and starring down at them. "And those big ones."

Yang nodded her head in understanding. The big Grimm that could take on several experienced hunters alone couldn't be tamed. She turned back to Leo. "What about King Taijitu? Can you tame those?" She asked.

Leo shuddered. "Not like snakes. Never get close." He said as he spurred the Ursa to make it go faster.

Yang crossed her arms. She was riding a Grimm with some hunter that she had never heard of until she met him on the rescue ship, and he was not a talker. She had hoped to find some form of conversation in the big brute, but it seemed to her that he was all brawn and no brain. The Ursa shook suddenly and threw her off its back. The creature arched up and roared before Yang heard a loud bang.

She looked up from the ground and saw that Leo had blow the Grimm's head off with his gauntlet. The massive corpse fell to the side before dissolving. Leo got back to his feet and help Yang up.

"What happened to it? I thought it was under your control." Yang said as she brushed her clothes off.

"Effect wore off. I can't control it forever." Leo said as he picked his mask up off the ground. Quickly placing it back on his face he looked down at Yang.

"Your a real fan of that mask, aint ya." Yang said as she looked up at Leo. "I haven't seen you without it ever."

Leo looked away, trying to ignore the statement. Yang sighed and motioned for him to follow her. Walking a short distance they reached the lip of a crater and saw that the Goliath's were just on the other side. They were starring across at the duo of hunters. Yang moved to the right with Leo and the Goliath's followed.

"Damn, they're not going to make this easy on us." Yang said as she shifted her weapons into the firing position. Leo followed suit, his gauntlets shifting to reveal ten barrels on each side with a pair of tubes leading to tanks on his back. A tube came up to the front of his mouth and he quickly blew into it, inflating the tanks. Yang looked at the absurd weapon that her partner wielded and starred.

"Are you going to fight them with Air?" She asked sarcastically.

He nodded.

Yang sighed as she heard his weapons begin to spin before she heard the guns begin to fire. Just like when he had roared the bullets each carried with them a great amount of force, slamming into the Goliath's and causing them to stagger. Yang saw this and made her move. Leaping across the crater with help from Ember Celica she loaded her unstable rounds into the chambers and began to fire at the Grimm.

The first went down with relative ease, as the hail of bullets from Leo kept it stunned long enough for Yang to land on its tusk and place several blasts into its ear canal before leaping away. The explosions inside its skull caused the beast to fall and begin to dissolve. The next Goliath wasn't so easy to fell. Shrugging off the bullets it swung its trunk at Yang and caused her to leap away from the attack. It's partner quickly taking the opportunity to try to impale the small huntress on its tusk, Leo had to shift his focus to the other and didn't notice the Beowolves coming up behind him.

Twisting in the air Yang avoided the tusk and grabbed its trunk, blasting it in the face several times to stun the massive beast. Pushing off she avoided the second Goliath's Trunk which slammed into it's ally, throwing the Grimm to the side. Landing on the ground Yang ran between its legs before firing Ember Celica to grab its tail. Swinging around she managed to throw herself up onto the Goliath's back. She noticed that the hail of blasts from Leo had stopped and looked over to see him fending off a pack of Beowolves.

'Look's like I'm on my own again.' She thought as she started to run towards beasts head. She slid under it's trunk as it swiped past her trying to knock her off. She reached it's head and slid down to it's massive eye's. She reared back and and shot the Goliath in the right eye twice before losing her grip and jumping to the other. Proceeding to do the same to the left eye, she fell to the ground and rolled away from the blinded behemoth. The Goliath stomped around several times trying to get its bearings as she looked back across at Leo.

The tanks on his back had deflated and wrapped themselves around his torso, and his metal greaves had shifted upward to connect with the rest of his armor. His fighting style seemed to be similar to Yang's in the aspect that it utilizes both kickboxing and boxing. Swiftly dodging his foes attacks and then countering with his own blows. When one Beowolf would attack he would grab them by the mask and slam them into their allies. While Yang excelled at quick and precise blows, Leo excelled at the grappling portion of the fighting style.

Dragging the Beowolves around the small area that they were fighting in, Leo would take every opportunity he was given to tear off limbs and masks when they got close enough. Yang turned back to see that the Goliath the had been hit in the face by the other was back and tried to stomp on her. She jumped out of the way and grabbed onto one of the bone chunks on the Goliath's side. Attempting to scale the Goliath's side proved to be rather challenging as the Grimm constantly shook its leg to shake her off.

Finally reaching the top of the Goliath she shot the other Goliath in the side of the head. The massive Grimm turned to her and charged. Having been blinded, the beast didn't notice that it was charging it's ally until it had already impaled it. The Goliath let out a loud cry of pain before falling onto its side and starting to dissolve. Yang leapt onto the blinded Goliath's head and prepared to kill the beast until she heard a voice.

 **"MOVE"**

Yang spun around and looked behind her for the deep voice that she heard before looking and seeing Leo inhaling deeply. Yang wasn't fast enough to avoid the blast as Leo unleashed his Roar. It hit the remaining Beowolves hard and began to tear chunks off of them. Slamming into the Goliath the roar caused it's eardrums to implode and its body to fall backwards at a weird angle. Yang was thrown several dozens of meters with a ringing in her ears.

She saw Leo's armor shift back into his gauntlets before he ran over to her. He lifted her into a sitting position and propped her up against a tree. Her vision was blurry and she could sort of see his mouth moving but all she could hear was the ringing in her ears. She moved her hands to her ears to try to block out the ringing. After a few minutes the ringing subsided and she was able to see straight. She saw that his mask was broken and she could see a deep scar over his left eye.

She reached out and grabbed his mask before lifting it off his face and letting it fall to the ground. She saw a deep 'X' shaped scar running between his eyes. "So that's why you wear a mask..." She said as he helped her to her feet. She was wobbly and had a her time standing. Leo lifted her onto his back and threw his broken mask into his bag, then began to walk towards the mountain. "Not much of a talker are you Leo?" Yang asked as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

Leo glanced back at her. "Nova says I'm not smart enough to talk to smart people." He said as he climbed over a fallen tree. "Says because I never had school I'm not allowed to talk to people who do have school."

Yang scowled, she wasn't a big fan of the older Arc sibling, a feeling she saw was mutually shared by most JNPR. "You listen to everything Nova says?" Yang asked as she lifted her head.

Leo let out a sigh. "I have to. Mr. Ironwood says that I'm a criminal. If I don't listen to my partner then I go back to jail."

This was the first time that Yang took notice of the object between her legs that kept waving back and forth. She looked down and saw a blonde tail twitching back and forth as Leo climbed the rocks. "You're a Faunus. I never knew." She said as she felt him tense. "Don't worry, I don't have a problem with Faunus... My er, my old best friend is a Faunus." Yang said as her mind drifted back to when she had found out that Blake was a Faunus.

Leo relaxed slightly as he continued to climb. "I was in the White Fang." Leo said. Now it was Yang's turn to tense up. She looked up at his face. "My family was with them before they started to be mean. I was in charge of the farms, making sure that everyone was fed." He found a cliff side that led to a cave and Yang climbed down. She was still a little wobbly, so Leo helped her walk into the cave.

Not more than forty yards into the cave was a door that led to an old mine. Opening the door Yang walked into her old home and found that nothing had changed since she left. "I figured that the Grimm would have raided this place after I left." She said as she went around to the various desk's and drawers grabbing papers and maps. She moved a old bed and threw Leo two every large bags. "Careful with those Leo, they are filled with the old unstable dust I collected in the mines." Yang said as she filled another bag with papers.

Leo walked over to the desk and raised one of the photos that he found. "Who's this?" He asked as he handed Yang the photo.

She looked at it for a moment before scowling. "It's my mother. She left when I was a baby, and I've only met her a few times." She threw the photo into her bag and continued to search around for things. Leo walked into the center of the room and there was a loud creaking. Yang spun around fast to see what had happened and saw that Leo had frozen in the center of the room. The room shook violently once more before the floor gave way and Leo and Yang fell into the mine.

* * *

 **The Leviathan**

More than six hours had passed since Yang and Leo had left the ship. They watched when Leo tamed an Ursa Major, and saw when he and Yang fought the Goliath's and Beowolves. Qrow seemed to not be too concerned about things even when they stopped being able to see the video feed, but at least they could still hear the audio. They heard when Leo started to talk about his past and Nova seemed to become greatly annoyed when he mentioned her.

Qrow however was not calm when he heard a loud creak from the other side, followed by the sound of Yang and Leo screaming as they fell. Then the audio cut.

"Tyme! What the hell happened to the audio?!" Qrow yelled as he looked over to Tyme. Tyme was fiddling with the wires.

"I don't know! I'm trying to get the sound back, but I think something happened on the other end!"

"I know something happened on the other end! Fix it!" Qrow shouted as he began to move the Leviathan to the other side of the island.

Qrow ordered the Captain to move the ship to the other side of the island and prepare to open the hanger bay doors. The robots working the hanger sprang to life as they went around preparing the fleet that the Leviathan carried for takeoff. Qrow and his group quickly filed into the elevators and went down to the hanger. When they arrived they saw the robots preparing the ships and saw one preparing for takeoff.

They began to walk over to in, but we shocked to see the ship rise into the air and fire upon the other ships. As the ship rose into the air Qrow saw Sun and Neptune at the controls, with Ruby, Weiss and Blake, and all of team JNPR standing in the crew bay.

"RUBY! What the hell do you think your doing?!" Qrow shouted as they rose farther into the air.

Nova threw her battleaxe at the cockpit, but it was quickly diverted into the ceiling. She glared at the ship as she saw Pyrrha walk into full view with a glare focused on her.

"We're going to help Yang." Ruby shouted as the ship began to turn.

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Nova yelled as she rose into the air. Her eyes began to glow as she summoned forth her powers of spring. Attempting to call forth a gale failed as Pyrrha used her own power's to nullify the winds. Nova was getting increasingly frustrated with the students and threw a lightning bolt at the ship. It struck the ships side and she smirked, before noticing that all of the electricity was being absorbed by Nora.

Nora walked to the opening in the side of the ship and smile happily. Jaune and Ren followed suit and stood in the opening. Nova growled under her breath. "Jaune! Get off that ship now!" She yelled as she threw another bolt of lightning at the ship. this time Nora caught the bolt directly with Magnhild and absorbed it directly from the source. Her eyes were now shining as she starred back at Nova.

Jaune starred at Nova with a blank face before raising his arm and pointing at his sister. "Bring her down Nora."

"YAY!" Nora shouted as she gathered all of the electricity in her into her palm.

Nova glared at her younger brother. "JAUNE!" Using the wind she retrieved her battleaxe and threw it at him, but it was again deflected by Pyrrha. Nora thrust her palm out as she fired a massive bolt of lightning at Nova. The bolt connected with it's target and sent her crashing into the wall above the elevators. Jaune and Ruby looked down at the group of hunters that had gathered before them.

"This time, we're going to be the ones getting Yang off this island." Ruby said before the ship flew out of the hanger and down onto the island below. Qrow watched with absolute shock. He had been given the task of leading an expedition to True Remnant, to find some all powerful weapon, and bring it back to Vale so that they could combat the Grimm. He had assumed that dealing with a few teams of students would have been simple. Oh how truly wrong he had been.

The group turned to see the elevator opening and saw a tired looking Winter step out before looking around. Her eyes held a fair deal of surprise at the state of the destroyed hanger. She looked directly at Qrow. "What'd I miss?"

* * *

 **Hey guys! How was you week? Things are looking up on my end. This is the first time that I have had such a positive reception to a fanfic on this site. AND I LOVE IT! Man you guys are great! I've started to get a better idea of ways to write this story and I am very excited to see where I can go with this!**

 **Now then...**

 **This chapter I introduced you to Leo and his semblance, and his fighting style. I have based him off of a character from my favorite anime, though extremely toned down. I am honestly curious how many of you can guess where his powers have come from.**

 **Nova, I honestly only added her to have an excuse to use a Maiden and have one of Jaune's family. But I have thought of so many ways to use the character's personality for my story that I just cant ignore her!.**

 **Tyme is an old mechanic. Actually a better way to describe him is that he was the weapons expert in his original team. He enjoys working with tools and feels the most comfortable when he's taking something apart, or putting something back together.**

 **And finally I decided that I love Sun, Neptune and Oobleck too much to not have them here. Thanks to all of you who have followed this story so far, and thanks to all of you who favorited and reviewed. Leave some new reviews and tell me what you though of the newest chapter.**


	4. When One Ends

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters or locations.**

* * *

 **Caves**

Leo opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He thanked his luck he was born a Faunus, because the area that they had landed was pitch black. Being able to make out the vague shapes of the cave around him in the dust he crawled to his feet, shifting the rocks off of him as he did. Brushing the dust off his shirt he looked around for Yang. After a moment he saw a hand sticking out from below a pile of large rocks. Moving as fast as he could he began to tear the rocks off of Yang. Moments later he found her face. She had a large gash on her forehead, and a cut along her jaw.

Placing his hand under her nose he felt her slowly exhaling. 'Good, she's still alive.' He thought as he began to shove the rest of the rubble off of her. He finished clearing the debris and placed his arms under her knees and shoulders and tried to lift her. As she was lifted her head pulled back down and he saw that her hair had gotten caught under a very large boulder that had just missed her head. He starred back down at Yang in shock. 'Just how lucky is this girl?'

Placing Yang back on the ground he looked up at the boulder. Sliding his hands under the boulder he began to lift before he heard a snap and the cave lit up. Leo turned to his right arm gauntlet and saw that the elbow joint had been damaged in the fall, and the strain from trying to life the boulder had snapped it and caused sparks to begin to emit from the circuits. Leo let out a sigh, knowing that he had no way of lifting the massive rock with only one arm. Reaching into his coat Leo retrieved a small combat knife from within. He knelt down and lowered the knife to Yang's hair.

'Gonna need to cut this to move her.' Leo thought as he narrowed his eyes. As soon as the knife touched her hair Leo felt a hand around his throat.

" **You move that blade and you lose your life.** " The voice made a chill run up and down Leo's spine as he turned to see that Yang had awoken and seemed to be absolutely furious. Her Hair had begun to glow a bright gold color and her eyes were glowing like hot coals. The cave had become illuminated by the glow.

Turing to face her Leo spoke. "I need to cut it so we can move. I can't lift the boulder."

The rage never left Yang's eyes as she spoke. " **Then don't move it.** "

Leo turned his head to the side with a terribly confused expression. Yang growled and slammed her fist into the boulder. The impact caused Ember Celica to discharge and the resulting blast shattered the rock. Leo shielded his face with his left arm to block the chucks of rock that broke off when Yang hit it.

With the boulder reduced to rubble and the knife at a safe distance from her hair, Yang sat up and shook her head, knocking several pebbles loose and shaking off a large amount of dust. Her hair and eyes were still glowing brightly, but she wasn't as angry with her hair no longer in danger. She turned to Leo. "Was it really that hard to just destroy the rock? You had to go straight for the hair?" She asked.

Leo's eyes continued to scan the cavern in complete silence before turning back to Yang. "Think before you act! That explosion just now could have cause another cave in!" Leo scolded as he dragged her to her feet. "I may not be smart, but I am experienced."

Yang looked down to her feet in annoyance. Leo was right. With the unstable dust in the walls and in the shells in her gauntlet, the blast could have easily cause the cave to collapse, and Leo didn't know about her hair rules.

"Sorry. I just don't like when people mess with my hair. I've never had it cut since I was a baby." Yang said as she brushed dust off of her clothes. She looked to Leo and saw that he was still carrying the bags of dust she had given him, and saw that her bag had been mostly undamaged by the fall. Looking up she could see a faint light at the top of the hole. "Well, we better start climbing." Yang said as she began to scale the rocks. She turned when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Leo shook his head. "Too steep." He said. "We can follow the cave out."

"It's too dark to see sown here. We'll get lost forever! I spent two months on this island, the first three weeks of it were spent trying to map a small part of these caves so I could scavenge materials." Yang said as she looked around, only able to see the small area around her that her hair illuminated.

Leo shook his head again and pointed to his eyes. "Most Faunus have better vision at night. Cat based Faunus like myself and the girl in black have extremely enhanced night vision."

Yang turned to him in shock. "You know that Blake's a Faunus?!"

Leo tilted his head in confusion. "It was a secret?"

Yang crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe that they told you. You've only known them a week. It took Blake close to two months to tell her own team."

"No one told me that she was a Faunus."

Now it was Yang's turn to be confused. "Then how did you know?"

Leo was just close enough to Yang that her hair showed him raise his hand to his nose. "I could smell it. Humans and Faunus have a very different smell to them. Your friend and I are both feline based Faunus, so we have a similar scent." Leo said as he turned and walked away from Yang's light. "We can go this way."

Yang stood in the same spot for a few seconds before she began to tap her foot.

"..."

Leo walked back into sight. "Right. You can't see to follow me."

"Nope."

Leo grabbed her hand and turned to leave again. "Hang on to me and I'll find us a way out."

"My hero." Yang said sarcastically as they took off into the depths of the cave.

* * *

 **Surface**

RWBY and JNPR screamed in panic as the Bullhead slammed into the ground with an unceremonious thud. Shambling out of the ship Jaune proceeded to empty the contents of his stomach onto the ground as Pyrrha watched her leader with concern. Sun and Neptune rolled out of the ship laughing as they hit the ground, their eyes spinning.

"Man, that was fun as hell!" Sun yelled as he tried to stand, failing to do so as he stumbled and fell on his face.

Blake looked at the monkey with a great deal of frustration. "I thought you two said you could pilot that thing!" She yelled as she held her head which had been slammed into Weiss's when they began to spin.

"Um, we did. And it was awesome!" Neptune said as he and Sun high-fived. Scowling at the two moronic boys she turned to make sure that her weapon was not damaged in the crash.

Ren helped Jaune to his feet, careful to avoid the puddle of vomit bellow him, and turned to the group of teams that were gathered around the Bullhead. Jaune held his head for a moment before speaking.

"Alright. So we're now on the island that Yang spent the last two months on before returning to Beacon. If what she told us is true, this island is overrun with large amounts of Grimm. I think our best hope to avoid a massive conflict is to keep to the shadows and use the trees to our advantage. I would like to avoid fighting Grimm as much as p-"

"YANG!" Everyone in the group turned to a hill nearby and saw Ruby standing atop the hill and shouting.

Jaune felt a chill race up his spine. "QUICK! Someone grab her before she alerts the whole island!" Quickly sprinting over to Ruby Weiss clamped her hands over the girls mouth and pulled her to the ground. Peaking over the side of the hill she could see several Beowolves in the valley below the hill.

"Are you trying to get us killed!?" Weiss whisper/shouted as she glared at Ruby.

Ruby looked back with a mixture of fear and surprise before she turned a bright shade of red with embarrassment. "Mpffs" Ruby said through Weiss's hand.

"What?" Weiss asked. She removed her hand from Ruby's mouth.

"I said sorry." Ruby looked over the hill and saw the Beowolves disappearing into the forest. She grinned. "They didn't hear me!" She said as she turned to Weiss.

Weiss glared at her leader. "I don't know how. I'm pretty sure that the teachers back on the Leviathan heard you!" She scolded Ruby as they walked back to the group. "You need to think before you act Ruby!" Arriving back with the group she saw that they were working on digging out the right wing of the Bullhead. Pyrrha was focusing on trying to use her Polarity to lift the massive ship while Nora was actually trying to lift it. Neptune was using his trident to dig the the wing out while Sun, Ren and, Jaune were trying to use the large branch of a fallen tree to pry it out.

Ruby looked around, but she couldn't see Blake. "Hey, where's Blake at?" She asked. She heard a panicked scream and saw Jaune get catapulted away from the tree when it snapped. The blonde boy landed in front of the two girls with a thump.

Groaning he got to his feet and began to pick the various splinters from his hand. "I sent her out to patrol the area around the crash. She's the sneakiest so I figured that she'd be the best choice." Jaune said as he looked up from his hand to meet his fellow leaders eyes. "She should be back soon. Until then, come help us get this thing free. We have no way to get back to the ship without it."

Ruby and Weiss Join the effort to free the Bullhead with little success. Glaring at Sun and Neptune Weiss growled slightly. "You two sure did a great job wedging this thing into the ground."

"Guys!" The group turned to see Blake returning to them. Walking out to meet her they could see that she was slightly winded as she ran up to them.

"Blake! Is everything alright? You look tired." Jaune asked as she reached them.

Blake shook her head. "No, I'm fine. But look at this!" She pulled out a bright red shotgun shell casing. "I found this one and a bunch of others just beyond the trees!" Blake turned and pointed to the forest that she had just come from.

Jaune turned to his team then back to Sun and Neptune. "You two stay here and finish freeing the Bullhead. The rest of us are going to go and investigate the area over there. I trust that you two can defend the Bullhead from attacks?" Jaune asked as he continued to stare at the two. They got into mock salutes and nodded their heads. "Good. Okay guys, lets go find Yang."

The two teams made their way through the forest by jumping through the tree branches, stopping every so often to help Jaune along. Poor boy was an excellent leader, though he didn't do terribly well in the field. Finally arriving in the clearing, the group was shocked t see the sheer level of devastation that had befallen the area. Jaune walked forward to the lip of the large crater with his mouth hanging open.

"What the hell happened here?" He asked.

"CFVY said that when they found her, Yang went into a berserk rage that took CFVY an entire week to calm. I imagine that what we are seeing here is the end result of that rage." Blake said as she scanned the horizon, expecting to see more Grimm.

Ruby, Weiss and JNPR were shocked beyond belief. They knew that Yang was especially dangerous when she was mad, but she only ever really reached that level of anger when something ruined or altered her hair. What they saw before them was an entire valley leading halfway up a mountain and a coastline that looked like it had been hit by a meteor shower. The only way they could think to describe it was the result of pure primal rage, and the complete annihilation of anything that stood before it.

"Ruby, you sure that Yang actually needs our help?" Jaune asked, his skin turning even paler as he continued to survey the area. "She seems to be able to handle herself pretty well... And she's got that big guy with her too! Whats his name again? Leo! Yeah that's it, Leo."

Ruby shook her head. "I was listening to the transmission on my scroll. Yang and Leo sounded like they were in trouble before it was cut off." Ruby turned back to Blake. "Where did you find those shells Blake?" Ruby asked.

Blake led the group for a couple of minutes before they arrived at a large crater, with several fresh burn marks from Yang's weapon. There were shell casings all over the area, along with signs that she and Leo had fought some very large Grimm.

Ruby turned to the mountain on the opposite side of the crater. "I recognize this area, I could see it on the video feed from the bridge. Yang and Leo were each fighting their own packs of enemies. Leo had some Beowolves sneak up on him over there." Ruby said as she pointed to the right where there was the start of a large cone like trail leading across the crater. "And Yang was fighting some Goliath's over there. They beat their Grimm's, but Leo's mask was damaged in the fight so I couldn't see how they did it."

Pyrrha looked to Ruby in surprise. "Yang was fighting a Goliath on her own?"

"Sort of, she had help from Leo with the first one, but then he got attacked by the Beowolves, so she had to deal with the other two on her own." Ruby said as she reached down to collect another shell casing.

JNPR was stunned. They'd had to fight a Goliath on their last mission, and they hoped they wouldn't have to do it again anytime soon. It took everything their team had to find the weak spots and kill it.

"What about this trail?" Weiss asked as she traced the trails outline with her hand. "What did this?"

Ruby shrugged. "It wasn't there when the fight started, so it must have happened shortly after the camera broke."

Nora saw something shining in the dirt and ran over to collect it. She reached down and pulled the other half of Leo's broken mask from the dirt. "Hey guys! Look what I found! It was just sitting here in the dirt! What do you think it is?" Nora asked as she ran over to Ren.

The quiet boy took the chunk from Nora and examined it. "This is a part of Leo's mask. It appears that we now have the source of the video feed being cut." He said as he traced the claw marks from the Beowolves past several split circuits.

Weiss scanned the ground. "Where's the rest of it?"

"Must have gone with them when they left. When the video cut is when I left to get you guys, but when I got back to my room to grab Crescent Rose I could hear Leo and Yang talking to each other." Ruby said as she unfolded her weapon into its scythe form. "I over heard Yang talking about going back to her home on the island to collect some things when we were on the ship." She raised the scope to her eye and began to scan the mountain top.

Jaune looked around the area they currently stood. "Where do you think Yang lived? It could take us day's to comb the entire island."

"That's not our biggest problem right now." Ruby said.

Jaune turned to her. "What do you mean? I thought our whole reason for coming down here was to find Yang."

"It is, but Yang said that while she lived here the Grimm were relentless."

Weiss, Ren and Pyrrha were the first to catch on and readied their weapons.

"So we've been lucky and they're not here." Jaune said.

Nora and Blake switched their weapons into their gun forms.

"No. When we were flying down there were Giant Nevermore's circling a nest on the top of the mountains and there were herds of Goliath on the ground." Ruby trained her eyes on the tree line and got into a combat ready stance.

"Jaune, get your sword ready." Pyrrha said as she raised her shield, eyes beginning to glow. Jaune looked to the teams and saw that they were all preparing for combat. Reaching back he gripped the hilt of Crocea Mors as the ground began to shake.

"We've been led into a trap." Ren said.

The forest around them erupted into a chorus of howls and roars as Beowolves, Ursa and Goliath's burst from the tree's, Nevermores began to circle high above in the sky and King Taijitu burst from the ground. Each hunter quickly prepared their weapons as the Grimm drew closer. Ruby made the first move, leaping forward using her semblance she began to spin with her blade becoming like a tornado of slashes as she tore through the first line of Beowolves.

Nora flipped her weapon's lid off and began to fire volley after volley of grenades into the massive crowds, limbs flew into the air as the grenades blew the Grimm to pieces upon impact. More quickly took the fallen's place as the swarm of Grimm continued to swarm around them.

"Weiss! We need something to slow them down! NOW!" Ruby yelled as she continued to jump from Grimm to Grimm, slashing as many as she could before they could grab her. Weiss began to spin Myrtenaster's chamber until it came to rest on a bright red light. Weiss raised her sword into the air before plunging the blade into the ground. The area for close to three hundred yards around became covered in ice. The Grimm that were charging quickly lost their footing as they crashed into the ground and began to slam into each other. Weiss grinned and jammed the blade further into the ground and the area erupted into icy spikes, impaling the Grimm that were caught in the trap.

"Aww... Now Weiss has more kills than me!" Nora shouted as she turned to smack an Ursa with Magnhild.

"Not the issue to be focusing on Nora." Ren said as he calmly cut down a Beowolf.

"Yeah, we've got bigger issues. Like what were going to do when they reach us!" Pyrrha said as she shot at a Goliath in the distance. Of the few dozen Goliath's that had emerged, only six had been brought down by Weiss's attack.

"I'm not too worried about the Goliath's, I'm far more concerned that the Nevermore haven't attacked yet!" Jaune said as he rolled out of the way of an Ursa Majors attack. Swinging his sword in a quick upward strike he managed to cut off the beasts arm. Having stunned the beast he quickly spun and slashed at the Grimm's gut, felling the bear like creature.

Jaune took his brief pause in the chaos to look to the sky where the Nevermore were circling. There were four of the giant creatures that were slowly descending towards the small group of hunters. The Nevermore were waiting until the group became overwhelmed by the ground Grimm and would allow for them to swoop in and grab their meal with ease. Turning back to the fight Jaune narrowly avoided the King Taijitu that lunged for his head.

Blake continued to shoot at the approaching Grimm as she turned to cover Weiss. "How many more times can you do that Weiss?!" Blake yelled as she slashed at an approaching Boarbatusk. Weiss brought the chamber to her face as she examined the dust she had left.

"Only one more time." She said, lowing the weapon to look Blake in the eyes. Blake groaned as she turned back to see Ruby land before her. She was panting hard as she propped herself up with Crescent Rose. The group was given a small break from the fight as the Grimm began to traverse the field of icy spikes. Turning back to the crater they could see several King Taijitu waiting for them to pushed back into the pit.

Ruby looked over the other hunters that she had dragged down to the surface with her. The Grimm were beginning to pass the spikes and were closing in on their position. "I hope Yang's having a better time then we are.

* * *

 **Cave**

Leo sprinted through the cavern while carrying Yang over his shoulder. They were being chased by Deathstalker's and Creep's that had found them while they were going through the caves.

"Why aren't we fighting?!" Yang asked as Leo turned another corner.

"You can't see!"

"But you can!"

"That's why I'm running!"

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!?"

"LOTS OF GRIMM!" Leo shouted, becoming fairly annoyed by their constant arguing as he was trying to find them a safe way out of their current predicament. Rounding another corner Leo came to an abrupt halt. He was standing at the edge of an underground ravine. Yang turned to see why they had stopped. The ravine was filled with light from the various strip lights, and dust crystals.

"I know this place!" Yang said as she climbed down from Leo's shoulder. She walked to the edge of the cliff before looking down over the ravine. She seemed to be scanning for something as her head followed the path of the ravine. She stopped and stared right at one of the large dust crystals. "There!" She said as she leapt off the cliff.

Leo lurched forward to grab her but just missed her as she fell through his fingers. He turned to see that Deathstalker's rounding the corner. He quickly made his decision and followed Yang over the side of the cliff. Leo wasn't as graceful as Yang, who landed carefully among the various boulders. Leo bounced off the walls of the cliff as he crashed into the ground, his armor taking most of the damage.

Leo crawled to his feet with a groan. Looking back up he saw that the Deathstalker's and Creep's were not following. "Of course... They can't climb." He said as he turned to look for Yang. After a moment he saw her sprinting along a path leading to the crystal she had been looking at. Growling he quickly raced after her.

Yang reached the crystal she had been looking at and dropped to her knee's, clawing the away the rocks at the base of the crystal. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Leo glaring down at her. "What the hell was that?!" He shouted as he dragged her to her feet. "Where was the warning?! Why did you just jump?!"

Yang grabbed his hands and moved them back to his sides. "We were being chased. I saw an opportunity and took it. Now I need to hurry and grab what I came for." She said as she returned to her digging. Leo switched his weapons on and inflated the tanks and began to scan the area around them. The Grimm lived in these caves and likely knew the layout of the tunnels. They were going around and when they reached them Leo hoped to be gone.

Leo turned and saw Yang was still digging. "We don't have time to play in the dirt."

Yang glared up at him and turned back to her digging. "This has a purpose. I just need to free this crystal."

Leo spun around and stared at her like she was crazy. "YOU WANT THE DAMN ROCK!?" He shouted, his voice reverberating off the walls, knocking small rocks free from the cliffs.

"Keep you damn voice down! Your weapon is sound! We don't want the whole island to know that were down here! And no, I don't need the crystal, I couldn't even carry the damn thing. I need what is buried below it." Yang said as she continued to dig.

Leo growled and shoved Yang to the side. "If you just keep digging then it will take forever to get what you need." Leo grabbed the crystal and began to pull. Yang heard a loud cracking and turned to see Leo raising the crystal up over his head. This was quickly followed by a snapping sound echoing through the chamber as the crystal fell behind Leo then joined by his right arm.

Leo looked down to his arm on the ground and cursed. "Well Fuck!"

Yang's hands rose to cover her mouth. She had seen worse shortly after her exile, but she had not expected to see Leo lose a limb by simply lifting a crystal. "What the hell..."

Leo's head snapped over to Yang with a look of shock, quickly realizing that she had no prior knowledge of his condition. He reached over to Yang with his remaining arm and waved to calm her down. "No, don't worry. It is a false arm. They both are." Leo said as he tried to calm Yang down.

Yang starred at his arm that lay on the ground. "How?"

It was a question that Leo was all to used to being asked. He looked down at the broken limb. "The ah, White Fang don't deal well with traitors."

Yang shook her head and went back to digging, trying to push the thought of the atrocities that the White Fang commit from her head. Yang felt around in the rocks until her hand bumped something under the rocks. She began to grin.

"So, what is this thing your looking for anyway?" Leo asked as he pulled his arm off the ground and placed it in his bag.

"My baby."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'm sorry what." Leo asked, standing completely still. He had heard her, he just didn't believe her.

Yang grabbed what she had found and yanked. Her arm burst forth from the dirt with a very worn and badly damaged Ember Celica. "I lost her my first night here." Yang said as she cradled the gauntlet in her arms. "I came down here looking for supplies and got lost. The Grimm that was guarding this crystal attacked me and it caused the ceiling to collapse."

Yang turned back to Leo to show him the remains of the left gauntlet. "I got trapped by the falling rocks and my gauntlet was stuck. When the Grimm began to claw their way through the rubble I needed to choose. Stay and die... Or leave my weapon and run. I regretted my choice everyday." Yang had tears in her eyes.

Leo looked down at the broken gauntlet and sighed. "How poetic. You find your left arm, I lose my right." Yang looked at his right hand that was hanging out of the bag. She smiled softly and placed her weapon into the bag at her side.

"When we get back to the ship, I'll have Ruby fix us both. I said some pretty rotten things to my team when I last saw them. I think we may need to talk." Yang said as she turned and began to walk towards the opening of the ravine. She stopped when she heard a loud creaking noise. She turned and saw Leo lifting the dust crystal over his head. "What are you doing? The last time you lifted that thing your... arm, fell off."

"It's heavy, but if I rest it on my shoulder then I can handle it." Leo said as he started towards her.

"Why are you even bringing it along?" She asked as she turned and began to walk beside him.

"I saw your fight back at school. This stuff makes some powerful ammo. If were going into True Remnant then we need the best weapons that we can get." Leo said as they began to walk up the path. "You said that you recognized the area. Do you know how to get us to the surface from here?"

Yang nodded. "This leads to the surface. I came down this way the first day I got here trying to escape from Brutus."

Leo turned to her and gave her a confused stare. "Who's Brutus?"

Yang continued on in silence for a moment. "Brutus is the largest Goliath that I have ever seen. Standing at least three times the normal size with a large crack in his mask. I encountered him on my first night on the island and he nearly killed me."

Leo followed her in silence for a moment before speaking. "I hope I never run into him."

* * *

 **Surface**

"Hey Neptune, any luck with the engine?" Sun asked as he turned to his blue haired friend.

Neptune emerged from the side of the Bullhead and shook his head. "How about you? Seen any Grimm yet?"

"Just a few Nevermore's in the distance. I figured that the island that turned Yang's heart cold would have been a bit more, you know, gruesome." Sun said as he relaxed atop the machine.

"I know. I assumed that there would at least be some attacks, but we've been here for close to three hours and haven't seen a thing." Neptune said as he continued to twist bolts in an attempt to get the engine on the wing working again.

Sun cautiously looked around the treeline. "I still am worried that we haven't seen any Grimm attacking us yet. This place was supposed to be abandoned because of the extreme amount of Grimm attacks. If that was true, where are all the Grimm." Neptune said as he kicked the turbines. It sputtered to life for a moment before dying again. Neptune sighed. "We should have brought some tools with us when we left the ship."

Sun continued to focus on the woods letting his eyes drift to the Nevermores in the sky. "No. There are Grimm on the island. And I know why we haven't seen them yet." Sun could smell something on the wind. Something he hated to smell. Blood. "Neptune, we need to hurry and fix this ship." Sun said as he jumped down and joined Neptune at the engine.

"Sun?"

Sun whipped around to see Yang walk up from a large hole in the ground on the other side of the field. She was followed by a massive crystal being carried by Leo. "Yang! Hey Neptune, look! It's Yang! We found her!"

"No, I found you. Why are you guys off the ship?" She asked as she walked up to the crashed ship.

"We all came down to get you. Once we get the Bullhead working again then we can get the others and leave." Sun said as he greeted the two hunters as they walked up to the crash.

"Others?" Yang asked. "Who else came down with you?"

"The rest of your team, and team JNPR. They should be-"

Neptune walked out of the ship and saw the three by the wing. "Holy shit! Dude where'd your arm go?! And how can you even lift that thing?!"

Leo looked to the blue haired boy and dropped the crystal with a loud crash. He turned to Yang. "Who are these two? They were not among the students chosen to join this mission." He said as he glanced back and forth between the two boys standing before him.

Yang turned to Leo. "They're some friends that stowed away on the ship." Turning back to Sun with a glare Yang spoke. "Where is my team."

"They went that way. Few hours ago Blake said that she found some evidence of your last known location." Yang looked in the direction that sun had pointed. Her eyes quickly darted to the sky when she saw that the Nevermores were above the area.

"Leo, drop the bags and the crystal in the ship. We need to hurry." Yang said as she raced off towards the Nevermore. Leo gave one last look at the two hunters before her threw the crystal into the ship and started to run after Yang.

Sun turned to Neptune. "I can smell blood Neptune. We need to get this thing working now."

* * *

 **Mountainside Crater**

The small group of hunters was tiring. They had been fighting nonstop for over two hours, and the Grimm swarm had barely thinned. Ruby was unable to use her semblance due to overuse, Weiss and Blake were running out of dust, Jaune and Pyrrha were back to back fending off Grimm left and right in an attempt to guard the flanks while Ren and Nora used their guns to provide cover.

The King Taijitu in the crater were writhing in the pit. They could see their meal being pushed ever closer to the edge. The group of hunters had now been confined to a small forty yards of fighting space. And it was shrinking fast. The Grimm had grown as the Goliath's pushed the hunters closer to the mountain, having been joined by both Giant Deathstalker's and Creep's.

Ruby rolled to the side to avoid a massive barrage of feathers that rained down upon them, killing several Grimm that were unlucky enough to get within range of the attack. She turned to the rest of her friends. "We can't keep being pushed back! Does anyone have any ideas?" She asked as she cut down another Beowolf. Pyrrha was using her semblance to move her and Jaune's shields around like high speed mobile buzz saws while Jaune and Ren used their blades to cover her.

Ren turned behind him and looked straight at Nora. "Nora! I think now is the time to use 'that' round!"

Nora turned to him with a sad face but nodded. Jaune killed an Ursa and turned to Ren. "What is 'that' round?" He asked as he turned again to block a Beowolf's claw.

Nora flipped the lid off of her grenade launcher and emptied out her weapons ammo. Reaching into her pack she drew out one large orange round that fit into the center of the gun. Nora aimed the weapon high into the air and the chamber began to spin rapidly before exploding. Nora fell back as the large explosive sailed out over the crowd. Jaune watched as the smoke trail fell right into the dead center of the swarm. Moments later the center of the crowd erupted into flashes followed by a deafening boom.

The Grimm stopped their attack and turned to see that over two thirds of the swarm had been vaporized. Jaune stood there in shock. He turned to Ren. "Why the hell didn't we use that an hour ago!?" He yelled while they had a brief moment to think. He turned when he heard a muffled sob. Looking over at Nora he saw that when she fired the round, Magnhild had been destroyed. Nora was on the ground collecting the broken pieces of the hammer while she had the chance.

"That's why she never uses it Jaune. We made our weapons together the day we were accepted to the hunters academy in the mountains." Ren said as he walked over to his distraught friend.

Jaune thought for a moment before speaking. "You guys went to the Fallen Academy..." He said as he quickly realized that he knew nothing of his friends pasts.

Ren nodded. "Yes, though at the time it was called Hope Academy." Ren knelt down and handed Nora a piece of her weapon. "We can talk more of my past when we have made it to safety. Until then, we still have lots of Grimm to deal with."

Jaune nodded. He turned to the rest of the group, who by this point had stopped fighting as well and was watching them. "The Grimm haven't attacked yet because Nora sacrificed her Magnhild to scare them. They are creatures of fear and despair so they will be ready to attack again soon. Ruby, now that their numbers have been thinned, your job is to slip in and out of the pack killing as many as you can." Ruby nodded and took off into the crowd.

"Blake, you and Ren will provide Ruby with covering fire while Pyrrha and I kill the ones that get close to us. Weiss, I need you to kill those King Taijitu's in the pit so that we have somewhere to retreat to if we need to. Can all of you handle your missions?" Jaune asked. Each one nodded and went to work on their tasks, Ren and Blake immediately began to gun down the Grimm that they could see near Ruby. Jaune turned back to Nora and knelt down. "Nora. I'm eternally grateful for your sacrifice. And the second that we get back to the Leviathan, I promise that we will rebuild her. But right now we still need your help."

Nora looked up to Jaune, tears still streaming from her eyes. "I need you to use your semblance and your remaining grenades to keep the crowds under control. Nora, can you do that?" Nora's usual perky demeanor was nowhere to be found, she had given into her depression the moment she was asked to use the special round. "Nora. If you can't do this then we may very well die here. I know that you miss her, but right now we need you to be strong. Ren needs you to be strong. He wouldn't have asked this of you if he didn't believe that you were stronger than it."

Nora looked at him and nodded, wiping the tears from her face. "O-okay. I'll do it." Nora said as she grabbed a grenade in each hand. She rose to her feet and began to hurl the grenades into the grouped up Grimm. Each grenade was followed by a trail of smoke and sparks as Nora used her power over electricity to cause the grenades to explode.

Pyrrha smiled as she watched Jaune raise to his feet, sword in hand. She moved his shield over to him and he gratefully accepted it. Jaune walked over to Pyrrha and readied his blade. "Told you that you'd make a great leader." Jaune smiled.

"I'll believe you once we get out of this." Jaune said as he scanned the swarm. They were still heavily out numbered, but the explosion left only two Goliath's standing, and killed every one of the Giant Deathstalker's. The threat level of the Grimm had been reduced significantly thanks to Nora. The Grimm had noticed their own being killed again and began to move against the hunters.

"Well everyone. I hope that you enjoyed your very brief break, I'll see you all when this is over." Jaune said as he raised his blade.

Jaune moved to swing his blade before he fell over onto the ground. The ground began to shake as even the Grimm froze in their tracks. Jaune looked to the forest, expecting for a second swarm, even larger than the first to burst forth from the forest, but what he instead found made his blood run cold. Walking into the clearing from behind a hill was a Goliath. Standing taller than the hill itself with one large crack going from the top left on its mask to the middle right. It's legs and body were covered in scars from it's previous battles and it's trunk held close to ten trees above it's head.

Without warning, and moving terrifyingly fast for such a large Grimm, The Goliath threw the tree's directly at the hunters.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Jaune yelled as he grabbed Pyrrha and jumped down into the crater. As he slid down he noticed that Weiss had not yet cleaned it out. "Shit!" Stabbing his sword into the wall Jaune halted their descent several yards above the snakes. They looked up at their prey, now within attack range, and began to slowly slither towards them.

Pyrrha held onto Jaune tightly as the snakes got ever closer. "Jaune, now would be a really good time for one of your plans." She said as she pulled her feet up the wall. There was a loud crash from above them, followed by a couple of trees falling past them into the pit, managing to kill one of the King Taijitu.

"Well... um, we both have metal armor, can't you use your semblance to carry us up?" Jaune asked as he looked down at his partner. Pyrrha turned to her leader with an exasperated expression. "Yeah sorry, it was a dumb idea." He said as he felt his grip on the sword beginning to loosen. Suddenly Jaune's face lit up. "Oh! What about your maidens powers? Can't you do something with those?" Jaune asked as he pulled Pyrrha farther up until she was resting on his shoulder.

Pyrrha thought for a moment before raising her palm. "I don't know what this will do, but here goes." She said. The sky above the crater began to darken as the wind picked up. Jaune could feel himself beginning to press against the wall as the wind whipped against his face and armor. The King Taijitu seemed to notice the change with their prey and attacked. They began to lunge for Jaune and Pyrrha before they were hit with a barrage of grenades and impaled by spires of ice.

Jaune looked up and saw that Nora and Weiss had gone to work attempting to save them. He felt Pyrrha raise off of his shoulder and saw that she had begun to float. Moments later he felt himself being dragged skyward. Jaune and the King Taijitu had gotten caught in a man made tornado that had Pyrrha at the center. Jaune screamed as he saw the ground getting farther and farther away. He sailed past the Nevermore that had been circling them, much to their surprise, and watched as the King Taijitu slammed into the Nevermore, catching them in the deadly vortex.

Jaune finally reached the top of the funnel with the rest of the Grimm, and felt completely weightless. This only lasted for a moment however, as the next moment he was falling back to Remnant alongside the Grimm that were unfortunate enough to get caught. Jaune was flailing as he felt his grip on his blade tighten. 'Well, at least I'll die with my blade in hand.' He thought as he began to pick up speed.

Weiss looked up at the falling blonde and grimaced. She knew exactly what would happen if someone was to fall from that height. Switching the chamber on Myrtenaster to a yellow dust she began to spin the blade around while creating a large icy ramp below Jaune. "Pyrrha! You need to make Jaune stop spinning!" Weiss yelled into the tornado. She could see her red haired friend in the center, but she couldn't get through to her. Panicking Weiss looked back up to Jaune and saw that he was still spinning as he fell faster and faster towards the ramp.

"Thanks Weiss!" She turned as she saw a red blur race past her up the ramp. Turning to see what passed her she saw the blur crash into Jaune and stop him from spinning, while dragging him back into the air a few feet. She realized that it was Ruby and noticed that she had managed to save Jaune for the time being. Watching as the tow began to fall towards the ramp, Weiss added more ice and speed glyph's along the path into the field of Grimm. Reaching the ice ramp Ruby threw Jaune to the side into Nora and Ren and continued down the path, cutting down Grimm on the path.

Jaune thanked his teammates as he turned back to Pyrrha, who was still in the vortex. She had her back turned to the group as she continued to slowly ascend higher. "Pyrrha! Were safe! You can stop now!" Jaune yelled as he attempted to get his partners attention. Pyrrha continued to ignore her leader as the sky grew darker. June turned as he heard loud crashes and saw that the King Taijitu that had been in the pit had begun to land in the field and disintegrate, taking several unlucky Grimm with them.

There was a thunderous crack as lightning began to rain down around the valley. Jaune and Ren dove out of the way of a massive bolt that crashed directly into Nora. Jaune groaned as he rolled onto his back and sat froward. He saw a bright pink glow ahead of him and saw that Nora had absorbed the entire blast. She was crackling with pick electricity as he entire eye glowed a bright pink. She had a huge grin on her face as she picked another grenade off the ground. She looked out over the crowd of Grimm, her grin never faltering.

In the next second, moving faster than the rest could follow, Nora hurled the grenades out over the crowd, then jumped directly into the crowd. Jaune panicked and started after her before Ren grabbed him. "Don't! She has been over charged by that lightning, she'll be fine for now. We need to work on getting Pyrrha to calm down!" He yelled as he turned Jaune back to the vortex.

A thunderous roar caught their attention as they saw a shockwave burst from the tree line, carving through the Grimm. Turning they saw Leo and Yang burst forth from the trees riding an Ursa Major. Yang looked out over the massive swarm with a stunned expression. "They must have gathered every Grimm on the damn island!" She said as she killed the Grimm they were riding with a swift hit to the back of the neck.

Sliding off of the dead Grimm Leo scanned the battle field. "I'm amazed that they managed to fight a horde of this size for so long." He said as he shifted his remaining arm into a gun, while only the left tank began to inflate.

"No offense, but I don't think air is going to do much against these guys." Yang said as she refilled the ammo in her gauntlet.

"Not just using air this time." Leo said. Yang turned to him with a questioning stare as he opened his coat. Inside the coat were several glowing vials with various types of dust. He grabbed a red vial and brought it to his mouth before sucking it all down into his lungs.

Yang's calm stare faltered as she watched Leo eat the dust. "What are you doing?! Dust is highly toxic! You can't just eat the stuff!" Yang yelled as Leo moved the now empty vial back into his coat.

He shook his head and blew into the mouth piece in front of him. The tank on his back began to glow red. When he finished the mouth piece retracted into his collar and he looked down at Yang. "Wan't eating it." He said as he raised his arm to the swarm. Gripping the trigger on his palm he began to fire a barrage of fire based breath missiles from the gun.

"YANG!" She turned quickly as she was tackled to the ground by a fast moving red blur. She looked down to see a sobbing Ruby clinging to her shirt. Ruby looked up to her face. "You're okay! I was worried about you!" She said as she buried her face in Yang's chest.

Leo took a moment to look down at the girls before going back to shooting the Grimm.

"Of course I'm okay Ruby, why wouldn't I be?" Yang asked. "I spent two months on this island, one more night wasn't going to kill me." She said as she got to her feet, trying to pry he little sister off of her.

Ruby refused to let go of her. "We heard you fall!" She wailed, still clinging to Yang, who was now becoming annoyed that her shirt was getting wet.

Yang and Leo shared a confused glance before Yang looked back to Ruby. "How did you hear us fall? AH! Were you guys following us?!" She asked, finally breaking free of he sisters grip.

Ruby pointed at Leo's face. "His mask has a camera and microphone in it. Professor Tyme was watching you guys on the monitor in the bridge with the other adults."

Leo froze. Switching his gun into a dormant state he reached into his bag and pulled out his remaining chunk of the mask. He looked closely and saw several small wires sticking out along the cuts. He turned and threw the mask back into the forest before returning to the Grimm. "Going to need to buy a new mask."

Yang looked back at the mask behind them then down to Ruby. "Well, even if I was in trouble, I told you that you guys aren't ready for this level of Grimm combat yet!" Yang said as she scolded her sister.

Ruby was about to respond before a loud horn like sound drew the attention of everything in the valley. following the sound back to its point of origin, Ruby remembered the massive Goliath that had appeared not but a few minutes earlier. Yang visibly paled as she stared at the Grimm. "It's him..." She said as she began to back away.

Leo and Ruby turned to look at Yang. "You recognize that Grimm Yang?" Ruby asked.

She nodded. "He's the reason I never left this island. He's the reason I had to leave my other gauntlet behind." She said as she continued to back away from the massive Goliath.

Leo turned to stare at the Grimm in the distance. One defining feature was the large jagged crack in its mask. "Brutus."

Yang nodded, now having backed up into a tree. "We need to run." She said as she grabbed Ruby and started towards their team. Leo turned to follow, trying his best to move while firing his gun

"Yang wait! We can beat that thing if we all try! It's just one Grimm!" Ruby said as she tried her best to keep up with her sister while being dragged.

Yang shook her head. "No, we need to leave now! I'm not losing something else to him!" She yelled as she made her way over to the rest of her team.

Ruby turned back to see that they had lost Leo several yards back in a pack of Grimm. She was about to tell Yang until she saw him jump out of the pile before sprinting up to them. Ruby turned see that they had reached the rest of the group, and she noticed that Jaune was missing.

She turned to Ren. "What happened to Jaune and Nora?" Ren pointed out over the now dwindling swarm. Ruby could see Nora tearing Grimm apart with lightning, but she couldn't find Jaune. "What about Jaune?" She asked. Ren pointed up into the tornado, and Ruby could just make out the shape of two people high in the twister, though one seemed to be clinging to the other for dear life.

She turned when she heard the howls of Beowolves, and saw that the swarm had started to retreat. She turned to Weiss and Blake. "WE DID IT!" She cheered as she dragged her team into a hug. The hunters all let out a collective sigh of relief at the sight of the Grimm leaving.

But Yang was still focused on the one Grimm that was still making it's way over to the group, trampling on the Grimm that got in it's way. "Yes, yes, cheers all around, but right now we need to leave!" She said as she began to push her team in the other direction. Ren glanced up into the twister where Jaune was trying to help Pyrrha.

Pyrrha was still fueling the tornado, and as she continued to use her powers, the lightning became more erratic in its nature, striking ever closer to her friends. Her left eye was glowing bright yellow, and she was only vaguely aware of the blonde leader clinging to her right arm. She could only hear the sound of the wind.

Jaune was clutching his chest due to a lack of air in the vacuum. He pulled himself down to where he was face to face with his partner. "PYRRHA! PYRRHA CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" He yelled as loud as he could manage, attempting to catch her attention.

She turned her face to him before focusing on his form. The wind began to smash into him in an attempt to knock him off of her. He tightened his grip on Pyrrha's arm as the wind began to slash at his skin, causing shallow cuts and scratching his armor.

Jaune knew he had to stop her, but she wasn't listening to him. He looked around to see it there was anything he could use to get her attention. Seeing nothing and thinking quickly he pulled out his shield and unfolded it. Wrapping his legs around her stomach he reared back with his shield. "Please forgive me Pyrrha." He said as he bashed his shield into Pyrrha's face as hard as he could.

It had the desired effect as it managed to knock Pyrrha into unconsciousness. He felt her body go limp and grabbed her. He did not however expect that when she lost consciousness that they would also be swept away by the twister. "Not again!" Jaune yelled as he and Pyrrha were dragged high into the sky.

As they flew higher and higher, Jaune felt his back slam into something hard and turned to see that he had crashed into the open door of the Bullhead. He turned and saw Sun and Neptune at the controls.

Sun turned back to grin at him. "Pretty good timing huh?" He said as they flew out of the vortex. Quickly they did a nosedive towards the others in the group. Jaune hurried and fastened Pyrrha into a seat before they hit the ground. Sliding across the grass he could hear Sun and Neptune arguing.

"I told you! That's not the landing gears!"

"And I told you, that I was going to be the one landing us this time!"

Jaune hurried to the door and let the others inside. Yang and Leo raced past him and threw Sun and Neptune out of the cockpit. Yang grabbed the controls while Leo made sure that the crystal was fastened to the cargo wall. Seeing that the rest of the teams had entered the ship Yang made the machine lurch forward before tearing off into the sky. Jaune grabbed the wall and hit the button to close the doors.

Sun and Neptune climbed into their seats grumbling about wanting to fly back to the ship. Yang looked out of the window, down below on the ground, Brutus was starring up at them. She glared at him before flying off towards the Leviathan.

* * *

 **The Leviathan**

Doctor Oobleck was waiting in the hanger when he heard the alarm go off. Turning to the screen beside him he opened the doors and a Bullhead raced into the room, sliding across the floor as it tried to stop. Finally coming to a rest at the opposite end of the hanger, the door to the back opened and the students began to file out.

Oobleck glanced down at his watch. "You know that it is quite far past your curfew students. I suggest that you all head to your rooms immediately." He said raising his book back up to his face.

"Indeed. Nova and Qrow were beside themselves when you all left without permission." Tyme said sliding out from under one of the nearby Bullhead's that had been damaged when the students had left the Leviathan earlier that day. He threw his wrench into a nearby tool box and wiped the oil from his hands. "Leo, you will be bunking with team JNPR for the rest of this trip. I decided that it would be in your best interest's to have your room switched."

Oobleck looked over to the group of students and saw Pyrrha unconscious, Nora carrying a pile of mangled metal, and Leo missing an arm. He paused for a moment then leapt from his chair. "Good heavens! Young man what happened to your arm?!" He asked as he raced over to Leo.

Tyme looked over to Leo's arms and noticed the metal hand protruding from his pack. It then dawned on him that no one on board the ship had been told of Leo's condition. "Dr. Oobleck, you needn't worry yourself, Leo has prosthetic arms. He lost them when he was younger, the details of how it happened I leave up to Leo to share." Tyme said as he walked over to Leo. Leo moved his arm over to Tyme so than the man could examine it. "I should be able to have it fixed for you in a couple of days." Tyme said as he took Leo's arm from the pack. He was visibly struggling to hold the device, as each arm weighed close to three hundred pounds.

Leo nodded his thanks and walked back into the ship to retrieve his crystal. The students gathered their things and quickly made for the elevator. Climbing into the elevator they rode it back to the dormitory level. Creeping past Qrow's room, they peaked inside and saw Winter sprawled out on the bed, with Qrow sleeping with a bottle of whiskey in his hand on the couch.

Continuing on to their rooms, careful not to wake the rest of the adults, RWBY crept into their room with Sun and Neptune behind them, while JNPR walked into their room. Closing the door behind them, Jaune laid Pyrrha on the bunk above his, and sat down on his bunk below. Nora dropped the mangled remains of Magnhild on the desk and walked over to her bunk above Ren's. Jaune watched as his team crawled into their beds before rising to his feet.

"I'm going to go wait outside for Leo. You guys better get some sleep." Jaune said as he watched his team crawl into their beds before walking to the door. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him. Turning to the hall he noticed the window across form the door. Jaune walked over to the window and propped himself up on the railing. He looked down at the island below. He could see new the sheer amount of damage that Yang had done to the island from the sky. The ship suddenly lurched forward as it began to move.

Jaune turned to see Leo walking up to him. Leo had left the rest of his arm with Professor Tyme, now having ditched the stump that reached to his elbow, instead now having only a hole that looked like it connected to various wires and gears at his shoulder. Jaune greeted him before opening the door to the room. "You can have the bunks over there on the end." Jaune said as he pointed at the far end of the room.

Leo nodded his thanks and took off his coat, that Jaune now realized was just a vest, and crawled into the bed on the end. He took the lower of the two, his massive size causing his legs to hang off the bed by about two feet. Jaune opened the connecting door to RWBY's room to see that each of the rooms occupants had already gone to bed. He closed the door before walking to the light switch for his own room. He flipped them off and walked back to his own bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes as he flopped down onto the bed. He felt his eyes grow heavy as he lay there, one thought played over and over in his mind while he waited to sleep.

'Qrow's going to kill us tomorrow.'

* * *

 **And that marks the end of chapter 4! I wanted to expand more on Leo and Yang's time in the cave, but I just couldn't think of anything fun to do in the cave. I also wanted to use this chapter to attempt to show that Yang and Leo are not the only power houses that this fic will have, even if Jaune may not be the best fighter, in my ind at least, he's a tactical genius.**

 **As I am expecting to get several questions about this, or get flamed for it, allow me to explain Leo's strength as simply as I can. His false arms each can hold close to 1 ton, while his legs have had several years working the fields to develop the necessary strength to carry it. The one thing you all need to remember is, RWBY is an anime, and people in anime tend to get ludicrous strength and durability from doing menial things. *cough* One Punch Man *cough***

 **In the next 2 chapters I hope to have the crew reach True Remnant, so leave me a review and tell me what you thought, or follow the story if it interests you.**


	5. A simple Game

**I want to start by apologizing for the very late update, this chapter gave me a serious case of writers block while I tried to think of a good way to tell about the past for various characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 **RWBY Leviathan Dorm**

Team RWBY and JNPR were sprawled out across the room various locations as they waited for the day to end. Blake, Sun, Ren and Nora were all sitting on the couch watching the TV, Weiss and Neptune were sitting in the chairs on either side of the couch, while Yang and Ruby sat at the table playing Remnant: The Game, with Jaune as Leo was laying on the floor near the desk. He had his vest off and was sleeping in the sun light from the window. Ruby was constantly glancing down at Leo's shoulder where his missing arm would connect. There were various wires and latches that had been disconnected.

Yang caught Ruby starring down at the massive Faunus and snapped her fingers in front of Ruby's face. "Oi, don't stare, it's rude." She said as she shuffled through the cards in her hand.

Ruby's attention snapped back to the game and Jaune gave her a weird look. "You've really never seen someone with prosthetic limbs before, Ruby?" Jaune asked as he moved a Nevermore towards the location of Vale.

Ruby turned to the blonde captain. "No, I've seen people with fake limbs before. Remember Mercury had fake legs from the knee down." Yang visibly twitched at the mention of the grey and black assassin that had assisted in her being condemned to the wilderness. "But I never knew how high-tech they could be! Mercury just had two shotguns attached to his legs that worked as supports and weapons. Leo has the ability to move his fingers and shift from active to dormant with a simple movement of his arms!" The small red huntress was practically drooling as she scanned over Leo's remaining arm, which was uncovered and laying palm up on the floor.

Yang sighed. "That's right, you've got that thing with weapons don't you, I had forgotten." She said as she laid down a card with Ozpin on it, and knocked over Jaune's Nevermore.

The Leviathan shifted to one side causing the pieces on the board to slide to the left. Yang and Jaune mumbled some inaudible curses as they shifted the pieces back into place. Yang turned to Ruby's seat and saw that her sister was gone. Yang turned to Leo and saw that Ruby was kneeling near his torso. "Ruby, it's your turn." She saw Ruby turn her head and reach out for the opening on Leo's shoulder where the arm connects. "Ruby, leave him alone!" Yang said as she began to walk towards her.

To late. Ruby was tracing the clockwork patterns on the opening and brushed one of the wires that was sticking out. Leo's entire body jerked as his eyes flew open. Turning quickly his remaining hand wrapped around Ruby's neck and pinned her to the floor in an instant. The loud thump from Ruby slamming into the ground alerted the rest of the room to the commotion in the back. Leo was barring his fangs and had murder in his eyes. Ruby had genuine fear of the large man before her, when suddenly Leo relaxed and released her neck. Turning to the rest of the room he noticed that the rest of the occupants had drawn their weapons.

Leo stood and walked to the nearby desk and began to examine his shoulder here Ruby been touching. Yang watched Leo with a cautious stare before hauling Ruby to her feet. "I told you not to bug him while he was sleeping." She said as she tuned back to the game.

Jaune turned to Yang. "Did you know that he was going to do that!?" He asked as he slowly lowered his sword while throwing a scarred glance at Leo.

Yang shook her head. "Nope. Just didn't feel like bugging him while he was asleep." She said as she picked up her cards.

Weiss walked over to the small group and turned to Ruby. "What just happened!" She demanded from Ruby.

"I don't know! I was looking at his shoulder and he just freaked out!" Leo looked back over his shoulder at Ruby before returning to checking for damage.

Weiss turned to glare at Leo. He was turning a dial on his shoulder that was retracting the wires back into his torso. "And you! What makes you think that you have the right to assault my friend?!"

Leo turned to glare at the small white haired girl. "I thought that she was attacking me." He said simply. The rest of the room was filled with a tangible sense of disbelief that Ruby could so easily harm the giant Faunus.

Weiss's glare intensified when she heard the mans response. "So you think that you can attack her for simply brushing your shoulder!?" Weiss yelled, the condescending tone never leaving her voice.

Leo raised his arm to his shoulder and pointed at the wires that were now drawn back into their socket. "Each wire is connected to my nervous system. They all allow me to feel things through my false limbs without having to touch it to real skin. The blue and white are for heat and cold, the yellow is for electricity, the green is for texture and general feeling, and the red is for pain. When your friend brushed the red wire she sent a jolt of pain directly to my nerves."

Ruby's hands flew up to cover her mouth as Weiss continued to argue with Leo. "I find it very hard to believe that Ruby could cause you much pain with your massive size!" She yelled as she got in Leo's face.

Now Leo yelled back. "Maybe you didn't hear me! When pain is sent straight to the nerves, it doesn't get filtered through aura, or and form of resistance! It may not have caused damage, but when you are completely unprepared for the pain it can cause a instinctual reaction!" Leo and Weiss's faces were now only mere inches apart, as the two were glaring daggers at each other.

Yang stood up and tried to slip between the two before it could escalate to anything physical. Ruby walked over and pulled Weiss away, then looked up to Leo. "Sorry for hurting you. I'm a big fan of weapons and I wanted to look at yours." She said as she frowned and turned her head to the floor. Weiss looked at Ruby shocked before exhaling sharply and walking back over to her chair.

Leo looked down at the two sisters and sighed. "And I'm sorry for grabbing you by the neck." He said as he stood and started for the door to team JNPR's room.

"Wait!" Ruby said as he reached for the knob. Leo turned to look over his shoulder and saw that Ruby had followed him to the door. "How did you lose them?"

Yang slapped herself in the face when she heard her sister. "Ruby! You can't just ask someone that! He probably doesn't want to remember it!" She said as she dragged her sister away from him. "I mean really! We just met him a few days ago, we don't know anything about him."

Ruby's eyes lit up. "That's it!" She shouted.

Yang tuned her head to where she had been holding Ruby and saw that she had wiggled out of her grip and ran back over to Leo. She grabbed his remaining arm and dragged him over to the rest of the rooms occupants. She shoved him down into a chair and turned to her friends. "Were going to share all of our pasts!" She shouted with a big grin on her face.

Everyone in the room looked back to what they were doing as they all synchronized with one word. "No."

Ruby frowned. "Aww, come on guys! We've known each other for a few months now, we've been in life threatening situations together! Even Leo's been with us for at least one of them, but we still know next to nothing about each others pasts!"

Blake turned to her leader. "Ruby, some people don't like their pasts. There can be some pretty dark things in someone's past, things that shouldn't ever be brought back to light." She said as she looked back to her book.

"But we all know your big, dark secret!" Ruby said. Blake's eyes shot to Ruby with a glare. "We all know that your a F- Mphf!" She said as Jaune's hands clamped over her mouth. Blake was silently fuming over the fact that Ruby had almost revealed her secret again, this time to a complete stranger.

"Relax, Leo already knows that shes a Faunus." Yang said as she dragged a chair over to the group and sat down beside the TV.

Everyone's eyes locked onto Yang and Blake, who now was starring at Yang with a expression that was a mix of shock and fury. "You told him?" She half shouted as she started to stand, before being pulled back down by Sun.

"Nope." Yang said as she rested her chin on her fist.

Blake's eyes scanned the people present in the room. "Then how'd he find out? Who told him."

"No one told him." Yang said, starring at the two Faunus that were now starring at her.

Blake turned her head to face Leo who was sitting in the chair beside Neptune with a spaced out look on his face. She focused on his form and quickly caught sight of something waving back and forth beneath him. Looking down at the moving object she saw that it was a Lion's tail waving around beneath him. It quickly dawned on her how he had found out.

"It was his nose." Sun said as he focused on Leo's face.

"Yep. Told me about it back on the island." Yang said as she turned to hit Leo's shoulder to grab his attention. "Said it was something about Faunus and humans having a distinct scent."

Neptune turned to Sun with a confused look on his face. "You can tell someone's race by smelling them?" He asked.

Sun nodded. "Most Faunus have a nose powerful enough to determine what species a person is, In Leo's case it would appear that he is a cat Faunus like Blake. That base has incredible eyesight, enhanced sense of smell, and improved reflexes." Sun said as he turned to Blake. "Other types of Faunus have varying abilities that only their base have."

"Like what?" Jaune asked as he took the seat beside Yang.

"My base is a monkey. Monkey base Faunus can use their tails like a third arm. Velvet is a rabbit base, I haven't seen it myself, but that is usually accompanied by increased leg strength." Sun said as he waved his tail around and grabbed a drink from the table before him.

"So there, now we all know that your a Faunus. Moving on, I am actually curious about some of your pasts." Yang said as she eyed Nora and Leo.

"OH! I'll tell you my past if you tell me about your time on the island!" Nora shouted with an excited look on her face.

Yang grinned. "Alright, but you go first."

Nora leapt to her feet looked around the room before getting into an exaggerated stance. "Alright, this is the story of how Ren and I made it to Beacon!"

Ren gave a deep sigh as he turned and placed his face in his hands, ready to correct the exaggerations that Nora would spin.

"It was midnight and the sky was dark and stormy!"

"It was noon and the sun was out."

* * *

 **Ren's Home**

"REN!"

Ren woke with a start as he turned to look over his room. Seeing no one he stood and walked to the window to see Nora standing in the yard below with a big grin on her face. She had a large bag in one hand and a pair of letters in the other.

"We made it in!" She cheered as she raced inside his house.

Moving on instinct Ren dove into his closet and threw on his green tailcoat and his white pants. Walking out of his closet he saw the knob on his door turning as Nora burst into the room. She pulled him into a big hug and handed him one of the letters. Opening it he saw that it was a letter of acceptance to Hope academy, the nearby combat school that the two had applied to earlier that year.

Ren smiled. "It would seem that they were impressed by us." He said as he turned the paper over in his hand. He continued to read the note and go over the list of required supplies. His eyes widened slightly when he reached the bottom. "Nora, it says that we need to have our weapons ready by orientation! That's in less than a week!" He shouted as he scrambled over to his desk to grab his wallet.

Nora gave him a confused look. "What are you doing Ren?" She asked as she him grab a pair of keys from the wall.

"I'm going to go buy the parts to build my weapon!" He said as he opened the door. He started out before a pair of hands dragged him back inside and shut the door. Ren looked to his old friend with annoyance. "Nora, we don't have time to play right now! We need to hurry and-"

Nora covered Ren's mouth with her hand and grinned. She turned and lifted the large bag she had been carrying and poured it's contents onto the floor of his room, causing screws and springs to bounce everywhere. She turned back to at Ren. "I already got all the parts we will need!"

Ren looked at the pile of parts with a mixture of shock and relief, then turned to Nora with a calm smile. "You really thought ahead this time didn't you."

She grinned and pulled a sheet of paper out from behind her. On the paper was several drawings of a hammer with countless arrows directing the length and height of the weapon. The sheet had one word on it in the bottom right corner.

'Magnhild'

Ren looked to his friends sheet with a smile before opening the top drawer of his desk to pull out a sheet of his own, this one adorned with the images of a pistol and a blade. The word in the bottom right on this sheet read, 'StormFlower'

Nora looked down at the paper with a perplexed look on her face. "But Ren, your terrible with swords and knives! I thought you wanted to stay at a range and provide covering fire." Nora said as she looked over the design.

"We need to have some kind of melee weapon Nora, if I only use a pistol then when something attacks me at close range I'll have nothing to defend myself." Ren said as he began rummaging through the pile of scrap.

Nora starred at the design for StormFlower before snatching it away from Ren and grabbing a pen. "Nora! What are you doing?! Give that back! Don't draw on my design!" Ren said as he tried to grab the sheet from his friend.

Nora quickly finished her changes to the weapon and turned back to Ren. "There." She said and handed the sheet back to Ren. She had erased the sword and drawn a second pistol, and added a vertical bayonet to each pistol. Ren looked at her with a confused look on his face. "I've seen you fight before Ren, remember when we were younger, and those bully's had cornered me? You beat all of them with your hands, but when you took one of their swords, they crushed you!" Ren's turned back to the new blades on the guns. "You fight with your hands Ren, these will be better for you, as opposed to learning an entirely new style."

Ren looked over the designs again and smiled. He looked over at Nora and spoke. "I never would have thought to use the blades like this. What about you though? Where's your ranged weapon?" He asked as he looked over the design for Magnhild.

Nora pulled a second sheet from her bag and showed it to Ren. On the paper was the same name, but the staff of the hammer had been compacted down into the stock of a grenade launcher, while the blunt end had slid back to reveal a barrel. There was a second diagram that showed the barrel and the metal around it flipping down to reveal a larger launcher with slots to fire the entire clip.

Ren reached into the pile of scrap and withdrew a black pistol casing. He examined it with a frown before Nora tossed him a can. Looking at the cylinder in his hand he saw that she had given him a can of green spray paint. He looked back to her to see that she still had her big grin. "Green is more your color, don't you think?"

Ren laughed and looked back to the can of paint. "Yeah, I guess it is."

* * *

 **3 Years Later**

Ren sprinted down the halls of Hope academy trying to find Nora, sirens were going off across the school as the Grimm flooded the campus. Passing a window Ren could see the courtyard that he and Nora usually had lunch at was flooded with Ursa that were fighting the teachers. Pressing on he reached his locker and tore it open to retrieve StormFlower. Ren could hear a low whistling and he dove to the left just as all of the lockers around him were impaled by Nevermore feathers. Looking back out the new holes in the wall he could see the sky was filled with Griffons and Nevermore.

"REN!"

Turning to look down the hall Ren saw a rather distressed looking Nora sprinting towards him, Magnhild on her back.

"REN! Thank god your okay!" She said as she dragged him to his feet. "It was horrible Ren! I was in Grimm studies when the alarms started going off! Then as we were leaving the class for the bunker a Ursa Major burst through the wall and attacked Professor Stone!" Nora was panicking as she rambled on.

Ren grabbed her by her shoulders and gave her a good shake. "NORA! Focus! Tell me whats happening!" He shouted. Ren had been in the library on his free period and had heard a commotion outside the doors before Professor Olive had burst through them while riding a King Taijitu. Thinking quickly he ran from the library and saw that there were many other Grimm in the school as well.

Nora focused her stare on Ren's eyes. "While Professor Stone held the Ursa off the students began to evacuate, we were almost to the shelter when we encountered a pack of Beowolves. Without our weapons and with no teachers around it was a slaughter for any student that didn't have an unlocked semblance!" Nora was beginning to hyperventilate as the panic was quickly returning.

Ren saw this and shook her once more. "Nora! We're going to be fine, now I need you to calm down!" He said as he looked up and down the halls for more Grimm before dragging Nora down one of the empty halls.

"Ren!" Ren stopped and looked at Nora, who had tears streaming down her face. "They killed Mirage!" Ren's eyes widened as he slowed to a stop in the middle of the hall. Mirage was Nora's older brother and the one who had given her the idea of using a hammer as a weapon. Mirage had graduated from beacon four years ago and had returned to their little village in the mountains to train future hunters. He had encouraged Nora and Ren to apply to Hope and had given each of them a good reference. Hearing that a trained huntsman who had graduated in the top fifty of his class had been killed made Ren seriously reconsider his chances of survival.

"How?" Ren asked and Nora looked up to him while trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "How did he die?"

Nora sniffled slightly before speaking. "When the Beowolves attacked the students Mirage appeared and began to kill them, for a second it seemed like we were going to reach the bunker before he turned and told all of us to run. His face was more serious than I have ever seen, and it scared me to see him like that. Next thing we knew there was a violent shaking and a cloud of dust burst out from the bunker."

"The bunker collapsed?!" Ren said with a great deal of surprise in his voice. "That thing was built to withstand a stampede of Goliath's!"

Nora nodded. "Yeah, but evidently not built to withstand attacks from below. From what I could see, some creeps had dug into the bunker from a cave below the school. Mirage told everyone to run while he held them off, but as soon as we started to run the Nevermore attacked the school. The feathers tore through the walls like they were paper and killed several students. One of the feathers had caught Mirage while he was fighting an alpha and it cut pretty deeply into his back."

Ren grabbed Nora by the hand and began to lead her away from the Grimm, as her extreme grief over his death would only attract more Grimm.

"The students who could just ran, leaving behind the injured students in favor of saving themselves, and I watched as the alpha my brother was fighting used his injury against him. It attacked relentlessly while calling more of its comrades to attack from his sides, he was overwhelmed in an instant and the Beowolves tore him apart!" Nora slid down onto her knees, not even noticing the pain she encountered as she slid to a halt.

Ren turned to look at his fallen friend and knelled down to meet her eyes. "Nora, we need to keep running!" Ren said as he tried to pull her to her feet. She shook her head and remained on the ground. "Mirage gave his life so you and the others students could escape! If you give up now then he will have died for nothing!" Ren yelled.

 ***Growl***

An icy chill ran up Ren's spine as he spun to meet a Beowolf with StormFlower's blades. Slashing upward he cut the beast's right arm off before laying into it with pistols. Turning to look down the halls he saw that he had led them into the middle of the history hall, which was filled with the corpse's of fallen students and teachers, and dozens of Beowolves. Pressing his back to the wall he hoped that the Beowolves hadn't seen him.

No such luck. Ren could hear the clawed paws hitting the ground as they raced to where the other had just died. Rounding the corner they saw a decaying corpse of a Beowolf, and the two students huddled against the wall a little farther away. They let out a loud howl to alert the other Grimm in the area to the prey they had just found.

"Nora! We need to Run!" Ren yelled as he dragged the girl to her feet. They ran back down the hall, turning at the destroyed cafeteria and running to the gym. Reaching the doors Ren threw them open and moved Nora to the wall, thinking quickly he slammed the door shut and grabbed a nearby push par and barred the door, hoping to keep the Grimm out. Moments later there was a banging at the doors as the metal doors started to cave inward.

"That's not going to keep them out forever." Ren said as he turned to look around the Gym for an exit. The Gym had been destroyed by the invasion, as there was a massive hole in the wall that led to the outside courtyard, the far wall had been damaged and there was frayed wires and burst pipes spewing water everywhere, and the wooden floor of the gym that they had used for combat practice had been torn apart. Running to the hole in the wall Ren could see that the courtyard was mostly empty and that the teachers that were fighting outside previously were now scattered around the area in chunks.

He would have thrown up if this had happened after lunch. Turning back he noticed that the pounding on the doors had stopped. The metal doors that led to the Gym were damaged, but held strong and refused to fall to the Beowolves attack. He sighed. "I guess they-" But he was cut short as the walls around the door crumbled and caved inward. The doors had held strong, but the stone walls around them hadn't been as reinforced. Shielding his eyes from the dust Ren heard a low and deep growl and brought StormFlower up to block an attack from the Beowolf before him.

"Nora! I could use some help here!" Ren yelled as he was forced back by the sheer force of the blows. Bringing its claws back as far as it could, the Beowolf swung forward and threw Ren against the back wall. He grunted in pain as he slid down the wall to the destroyed floor, his impact causing the frayed wires to fall and connect with the water, electrifying it.

Nora rose to her feet and flipped Magnhild into its hammer form before slamming it into a nearby Grimm, causing the unlucky beast to go crashing through the wall. Flipping Magnhild back into its grenade launcher form she proceeded to cover the pack in explosions before stepping back to scan for surviving Grimm. A deep and loud growl was heard throughout the Gym as a very large Beowolf walked out of the pink smoke. It rose to full height on its hind legs and roared at the two students.

Nora was mortified when she saw a large Katana sticking out of the side of the Grimm. "Y-your the one who killed Mirage!" She shouted as it crouched down and barred its fangs at her. Swinging Magnhild at the Grimm proved ineffective as the alpha brushed it off and quickly slammed the back of it's paw into Nora, sending her flying. Nora cartwheeled through the air as she fell towards the electrified water.

"NORA!" Ren yelled as he watched his friend fall toward certain death at the hands of the deadly water. With a splash Nora hit the water and tensed before screaming. After a moment the screaming died down and Ren looked down at the ground in despair. "Nora... No."

"No what Ren?"

Ren's head shot up so quickly that he felt his neck crack. Nora was sitting in the pool of water with bolts of electricity jumping all over her, but she was completely unharmed. She looked back at him in confusion then looked down to see that she was covered in electricity. She quickly tried to brush them off before more took the place of the ones she touched.

"Ren? Whats happening?!" She asked in a panic.

Ren was starring on in shock before it hit him. "Nora! That's your semblance! Use your Semblance!" He shouted as he grabbed StormFlower and began to fire upon the alpha. Nora could feel her muscles growing in power as she rose to her feet and grabbed Magnhild. She began to grin as she leapt forward to swing at the alpha. The Grimm brought its paw up to block again, only for Nora to swing right through it and tear the arm off with the hit. The Grimm staggered back as Nora hit it again in the knees causing it to fall flat on its belly.

Nora stood at its head and starred down at the alpha. "This is for Mirage!" She said as she sent a heavy electric charge to Magnhild and swung her hammer straight down with all her might. The hammer connected with the beasts head and smashed it, and the floor, to bits as the room began to collapse. Panting, Nora drew back her hammer and placed it on her back. Ren walked over to her and grabbed the Katana that was stuck into the Grimm's side.

He looked to Nora. "I'm sorry about Mirage, I know he meant a lot to you." He said as he turned to hand her the sword. The room began to shake as several Ursa Major broke through the side wall with a loud roar. Ren drew his weapons and aimed them at the Grimm. "Just when I though we might escape this place."

He waited for the Ursa to charge, before he heard the loud hum of an engine, followed by the sounds of a mini-gun revving up. Ren grabbed Nora and threw her to the floor as the Ursa were chewed apart by the guns of a Bullhead that had appeared at the window. The craft turned to the side and the door slid open revealing a woman with blond hair and a riding crop standing before them.

"Hurry!" She shouted as she waved her riding crop, causing the debris around them to form a bridge to the Bullhead. Ren and Nora looked at each other before running to the ship. Upon boarding the craft it lurched as it took to the air, trying to distance itself from the destroyed school. Ren looked out the window and saw the damages from the sky. The entire academy had been decimated. The forge, where they had made weapons and ammo was on fire, as was a great majority of the main building, the courtyard was littered with corpse's, and the whole school was crawling with Grimm.

Ren turned to look at the people in the Bullhead with them. Other than the blonde woman, a solider, and the pilots, there was a man with grey hair, a coffee mug and a cane with a trigger on the handle. He was wearing a green suit and had a pair of black glasses over his eyes. He had a solemn expression on his face as he spoke into his com-link.

"How many did we get Qrow?"

"Counting the two you guys just found? I'd say we saved about thirteen students and one teacher." The voice on the other end of the Com was scratchy and sounded like the man had just woken up. "Out of the student body of over five hundred, and a teaching staff of close to a hundred, I'd say that this was a complete failure."

The man in green let out a frustrated sigh as he spoke back into the Com. "Oobleck, Port, what of the status of the village?"

The next voice that Ren heard was one that sounded hearty, and like it came from a large man. "The whole village is in ruins Headmaster, we've done what we could, but we haven't been able to find any survivors yet!"

"Indeed! I don't understand why the early warning systems didn't alert the military and the school about this attack sooner! What caused it to go down and allow the Grimm to attack the city?" Said another voice, this one sounded like the man behind it hadn't slept for a few years, and was running on absolute caffeine.

"What about Mirage Valkyrie? Did you find him at the estate? He has the ability to protect the city just as you do!" The man in green said as he turned back to the students in the Bullhead, noticing the familiar Katana in Nora's hands.

The caffeinated voice spoke through the Com. "I was just there! The whole estate is leveled, I found the corpse's of the parents in the yard, along with several others that I couldn't identify!"

The man in green studied the Katana in Nora's hands. The blade was incredibly massive, being close to six feet long, and had fresh blood on the hilt and lower part of the blade. 'Grimm don't bleed...' The man thought as he strode over to the two students that they had saved. He knelled down and met eye to eye with Nora and spoke.

"Everything is alright, your safe from the Grimm now. I am Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy. If I may, where did you get that blade?" He asked as he admired the craftsmanship on the blade. "That blade closely resembles 'Moon Cutter', the sword used by one of my favorite students. Would you happen to know what happened to the owner of this weapon?" He asked.

Nora looked to the weapon in her hand. 'Moon Cutter... So this man knew my brother.' Nora looked up to Ozpin with a sad look on her face. "You knew my brother? You knew Mirage?" She asked.

Ozpin's eyes widened slightly in surprise. "Yes. I knew Mirage. He was in the last class that I taught personally. He had spectacular grades and was quite good with that blade. His semblance was one of the most terrifyingly powerful abilities I'd ever seen, with the ability to summon hurricane force winds on command, the wind was his true weapon." Ozpin said as he rose to his feet and planted his cane firmly on the floor.

Nora looked back down to the blade and Ren looked up to Ozpin. "Mirage was killed while saving a group of students from an alpha. We retrieved his sword when we killed the alpha that the sword was impaled in." Ren said as he placed his hand on Nora's shoulder.

Ozpin's expression grew darker as he tilted his head down. "I see. My condolences. Glynda, have my assistant prepare a place for Mr Valkyrie in the Hall of Heroes when we return."

Glynda nodded and waved her riding crop, causing the blade to float out of Nora's hands and into the air. A thick cloth quickly wrapped around the weapon before it was placed in the corner of the Bullhead. Nora looked to her brothers weapon before sitting back in her seat and closing her eyes.

"So, Ms. Valkyrie, Mr. Ren, how would you two like to attend Beacon academy this fall?" Ozpin asked. Nora and Ren's eyes shot open as they starred at Ozpin in shock.

"WHAT?!" They both shouted as Ozpin chuckled, his mood slightly lightened.

"I asked if you would like to attend my school. I saw your fight with that alpha, and I was quite impressed with what I saw. I hope that your experience at this school will not discourage you from pursuing a career as a hunter or huntress." Ozpin said as he took the seat across from them.

Nora wanted to be excited, she had hoped to go to Beacon since she had heard that her brother was going, but after what she had been through today, she wasn't sure.

"I'll go." Nora turned to see Ren looking at Ozpin with a serious expression.

"Ren?" Nora asked as she studied him for signs of joking.

Ren turned to Nora. "I know that you just lost your brother, Nora, but I lost my family when I was very young. I lived with my grandma, and if I heard right when they were talking over their Com's, then I don't even have her anymore. I've wanted to become a hunter for a long time, and with the village gone, and the school destroyed, this may be my only chance."

"But Ren!" She shouted.

"No, Nora! The alarms that were there to warn us about Grimm didn't go off, and I want to find out why. We lost a lot of friends and family today Nora, I for one would like a fresh start. Now, will you come with me? Or will you stay." Ren said as he slid StormFlower into his sleeves. He reclined back in his seat and rested his head against the wall.

Nora thought for a second before looking to Ozpin and nodding. "I'll go too." She said as she sat in her seat starring out the window.

Ozpin smiled. "Excellent. Given your situation, I'll have arrangements made for you to stay in Vale until the semester begins." He said as he looked back down to his scroll as he received a message from Qrow. Clicking on the message it revealed a photo that Qrow had seen on all of the monitors across the city and on the screens inside the control room for the early warning system. A black queen chess piece.

* * *

 **RWBY Leviathan Dorm Present Day**

"Whoa..." Jaune said as Nora and Ren finished their story. The whole room was listening with baited breath, the story may have been rather short, but it gave decent insight into their past. Nora and Ren had both lost everything the day that the Grimm broke through the defenses of Hope academy, and the kingdom failed to even notice the tragedy until it was already too late.

"You had a brother, Nora?" Ruby asked while she was leaning on the table.

Nora nodded. "He was an amazing hunter, who taught me how to fight when I was bullied as a child. Even Ren was taught by Mirage, though most of Ren's fighting style comes from what his grandmother and grandfather taught him."

"Your brother taught you to fight with your hammer?" Weiss asked as she took a sip of her tea.

"No, the hammer was what I chose to use as my weapon, he had started me out on a Bo staff. When I realized that most of my attacks ended with me slamming one side of the staff down with great force I tried it with my fathers old war hammer and it just stuck."

"How did your brother learn such complicated methods of fighting? Most of my training came from my parents buying me tutors and forcing me into dueling." Weiss said as she placed her cup back down on the table beside Ruby.

"My brother learned the same way. My parents saw him as a golden child. He was a prodigy, so they bought him the best tutors they could find and he became one of the best hunters of his class." Nora said as she smiled at the memory of her brother.

"How did your family afford the tutors? I have been doing the Schnee family finances for years, and the tutors I had were never cheap." Weiss said as she eyed Nora curiously.

"The Valkyries were an old warrior family much like the Arc's, Nora's family was quite well off from years of being the top of security for several kingdoms." Ren said as he closed the book he had been holding and rose to put it away.

As the conversation continued Sun got to his feet and tapped Leo on the shoulder. The large Lion Faunus looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Sun asked. Leo obliged and rose from his chair to follow Sun, Blake not far behind. Reaching the opposing side of the room Blake and Leo looked at Sun while they waited for the answer to why they had been asked to join him. Sun turned and leveled a glare at Leo.

"When did it happen?" He said flatly.

Blake's eyes widened in shock. "Sun! You can't just ask him that, especially not with that tone!" She said, now fairly irritated with the monkey.

"I'm not talking about his injury." Sun said as he continued to glare at Leo.

Blake looked at sun with confusion. "Then what did you mean?"

Sun turned to look at Blake. "Take a look over at Yang."

Blake turned to look at the blonde brawler, but she couldn't see anything different, besides that she seemed to be returning to he old self, albeit slowly. Turning back to Sun Blake spoke again. "I didn't see anything wrong with her."

Sun narrowed his eyes at Blake. "No Blake, take 'a look' at Yang."

Blake finally understood what Sun had meant, and closed her eyes tight. After a few seconds she opened them to reveal a pair with slits like a cat's eyes. Turning back to Yang she could see immediately what Sun had been referring to. Over where Yang's heart was a golden Lion crest. Quickly turning her head she Joined Sun in glaring at Leo.

"I'll ask again. When did you mark Yang?" Sun asked as he approached Leo.

Leo seemed taken aback by the sudden accusation. "I didn't mark her." He said trying to defend himself.

"Then explain why your crest is over Yang's heart. That only happen's when someone gets marked by a Faunus, and I know exactly how to mark someone, and I have a hard time believing that you and Yang have that relationship." Blake said as she quickly moved the sheath of Gambol Shroud to the base of Leo's neck, her glare never faltering.

Leo shut his eyes before opening them with the same slit's that Blake had, and looked over to Yang, then down to Blake and Sun. His lips curved up into a smile. "What of you then? Your wearing the mark of the Monkey, and You the mark of the Cat. Neither of you are exactly innocent in this context."

A fierce blush covered Blake's face as she dug the sheath farther into Leo's neck, causing him to cough. "What Blake and I have marked is our business, but you marked our friend, and we no nothing about you. Beyond your name, your a mystery to us. No clue as to what your motives are, no explanation of where you came from or where you plan to go." Sun said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Leo sighed and sat down on the bed beside him, ignoring Gambol Shroud's cutting into his neck. "I will say again, I didn't mark Yang, at least not in the way you're thinking. Where the mark you two wear comes from mating, the mark currently over Yang heart is a temporary one. They are formed when two people are in contact for an extended period of time, like when I carried her up the mountain, or when I carried her down in the caves." He said as he rested his remaining arm on his knee.

"Why were you carrying Yang?" Blake asked, retracting Gambol Shroud slightly.

"She was disoriented from one of my sound attacks and was having a hard time walking, then in the cave the Grimm were after us, and Humans can't see in the dark." Leo said while he smiled back at Sun.

Sun lowered his glare, and left Leo with just a frustrated stare.

"You were in the White Fang right?" Blake asked, placing the blade back on his throat. Leo's smile left his face in a hurry as he turned to Blake and reciprocated her glare.

Sun looked at her with surprise. "Blake? This may not be the time." He said, trying to get Blake to back down.

"No Sun, I need to know how far he was willing to go with them." She said, starring straight back into his eyes, trying to search them for a trace of the truth behind them.

Leo nodded. "I was. But I don't see why I need to share that information with-"

"Because I was a member too! I want to know why you were with them! What reason did you have to join them!" Blake said just above a whisper. Sun turned to look at the rest of the room as Yang told them about her brief time on the Island.

"I was born into it. My father was a farmer who supported the group, while my mother was one of the heads that went to all the political meetings." Leo said, looking back to the other side of the room at the Humans. "I presume you both know what happens when a Human and a Faunus have a child." Leo said turning back to Blake and Sun.

They nodded. "The child is either born as a Hybrid, or they are born as a full Human, or a full Faunus." Sun said.

Leo moved his hand up to his chin and scratched the slight scruff that he had. "Exactly. My father was a human, and a third generation farmer. My mother was a Lion Faunus and the granddaughter of the original White Fang leader. I was born as the eldest of five, and the only son. I was also the only full Faunus that they had. My younger sisters were all Human, save for the third born, who was a Hybrid."

Leo turned to look back the the larger group who were telling each other of their childhoods and their pasts. "It was a happy and simple life growing up on a farm. Wake up with the sun and work the fields for the day, eat a large and greasy dinner, then go to bed and do the same thing the next day. Mom would come home sometimes after a rally with this big smile on her face because she thought that they had made a difference." Looking back down to his clockwork and dust powered arm he sighed. "It was a different time back then. The worlds become a scary place."

Blake thought on Leo's words. She too could remember a time in her life when she had been with the White Fang without them trying to cause harm. She could remember being a part of the rally's and having that feeling of excitement when they would end, feeling like she had accomplished something. She could remember the day when it all began to change. When Adam had first begun to lose touch with his own morals, when the White Fang changed their uniforms and when they dawned the new logo and the masks.

"My father and I, along with my sisters worked the farm and provided food to the nearby towns and to the White Fang. I remember one day my mother came home with three masks, each one from a different Grimm. She said that the White Fang were going to be wearing them at the rally's from that point on, and that when the White Fang come to collect the crops, that my Hybrid sister and I should wear them." He said as he pulled a photo out of his pocket. It had him, a little girl, and an older woman standing about a foot shorter than him.

"These are your sister and mother?" Blake asked as she took the photo from him.

Leo nodded. "I was fifteen there. Only about seven feet tall then." He said as Blake showed the photo to Sun. Sun took the photo and examined it closer. In the background he could see what he could only assume was the Human members of Leo's family, and he could see that each of the Faunus had a mask in their hands. The little girl had the normal mask that the grunts would wear, while the mother had a really elaborate mask with several layers and a beak that resembled a Nevermore. Leo was holding a variant of the mask that Blake and Adam would wear, except that this one had a piece that wrapped down around the jawline and had two large fangs framed his face.

"This isn't the mask that you wear now though, the one you have now looks like you tore it right off of a Beowolf Alpha."

Leo nodded as he took the photo back and placed it back in his pocket. "I don't like to remember my past. I broke that mask the day I betrayed the White Fang."

"So how did you betray them? If your mother was one of the leaders then you should have had it made." Sun said as he raised his eyebrow.

"Weren't you listening Sun? He said that his Father and sisters had Human blood. When the White Fang came under new management, they weren't exactly warm and accepting to the Humans that they encountered." Blake said as she leveled her stare at Leo.

"But what about your mother? If she was at the top, couldn't she have done something to stop them from going after you?" Sun asked.

"When the new leader came into power he executed every previous leader that didn't agree with him Sun. His mother was most likely killed."

Leo gave an empty chuckle. "If only that were how it happened." Blake turned her head to the side as she listened. "When the new leader took power, he said that they were going to prove to Humankind that the Faunus were superior in every way. I din't mind him at first, because I just thought he was a charismatic guy who was rallying the troops. One day there was a knock at the door, and when my father answered it he was met with one of the leaders flunky's. He said that since he was married to my mom he and my sisters would be spared if he stopped doing business with the Human villages in the area. When my dad refused the man tried to attack him, but my dad took him down and had him thrown off the property. I thought that it was over then, but oh how wrong I was."

Leo raised his head to look at the two Faunus before him. "A week later there was another knock at the door. When my father answered it this time he was killed by some punk with red hair and a glowing sword. Guy seemed like he was in charge of some big division in the White Fang and said that I would be spared because I was a Faunus, but that he was going to kill my sisters. I wasn't going to let him hurt my sisters without a fight. While I fought him the bastard had some goon with a chainsaw go and hunt down my sisters. One by one I could hear them dying, and one by one I failed to save them. When he finally returned from the upstairs he had my Hybrid sister in his arms. She was kicking and screaming as she tried to get free. The man with the chainsaw looked at the guy I was fighting and asked if she should live too, having Faunus blood in her."

Blake could feel dread as she knew exactly who Leo was talking about. "Guy said 'No! This whole family is full of traitors to the Faunus race! Kill that damned half breed and lets go!' I'd never had any formal training at this point, and all I had was a pitchfork that I had used in the field. Every time that I hit this guy he just blocked it with the sword, and with each hit it got brighter." Blake looked at Leo's missing arms and quickly realized what was coming next. "I threw the pitchfork at the guy with the Red hair and ran towards my sister, hoping I could save at least one of them." Leo said as he brought his massive metal hand up to his head and clutched his forehead. "That red haired bastard, He caught the pitchfork and threw it straight at my sister. I watched as it impaled her and saw the man move out of the corner of my eye. Next thing I knew my arms were passing the rest of my body as I fell forward."

Leo raised his shirt up to reveal that the implants covered the greater majority of his chest and shoulders. "Bastard cut my arms off and took a good bit of my rib cage with them, even managing to take a chunk out of my lungs and heart. I watched him leave with his goons and all I could feel was rage. With my final conscious breath I gave a loud cry of anger and I used my semblance for the first and last time as a whole Faunus. My roar blew the front of my house apart as it traveled through the yard towards the man with red hair." A dark smile formed on Leo's face.

"The red haired bastard couldn't block that one with his magic sword. I watched as he and his goons were thrown into the forest and saw them slam into the trees before crumpling to the ground. I may have lost my family that day, but at least I took their killer out with them. It's been two years since they died, and I refuse to die until I've killed all of the people leading the White Fang, including my traitorous Mother who did nothing when she heard that her family was to be executed." Leo said as he clenched his fist and could hear the gears straining under the force his aura was projecting into them.

"No, you didn't kill your sisters killers." Blake said. Leo's head snapped up to stare at Blake's face. "The man you described fits my old partner perfectly, Red hair, glowing sword, supremacist attitude. Did he had horns and a black coat on?" Leo nodded as he rose to his feet. "Then it was him... The man who killed your sisters... Dammit Adam!" She said as she turned and walked across the room to the window.

"You know who killed my sisters." Leo said. "You know his name, and you say that he still lives to this day." Leo's face was going from shocked to enraged. He grabbed Blake by the waist and raised her to his face and shouted. "WHERE CAN I FIND HIM?!" The rest of the room quickly noticed the large man holding Blake in the air and drew their weapons and surrounded him. Yang walked up to Leo with Ember Celica drawn and aimed at his face.

"Leo! Put her down! I don;t know what this is about bu-"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Leo shouted again glaring at Blake like she was the very person who had take his sisters.

Yang quickly fired off a round from Ember Celica into Leo's face, causing the angry giant to release his hold on Blake and stagger backwards before he was quickly dragged to the floor by his arm and chest. Yang followed in suit as her right arm crashed into the ground, followed by the various weapons that the rest of the room had. A dark blur covered every bit of metal in the room as they were pinned to the ground. Leo struggled against the force before beginning to choke and cough.

Jaune turned to the door to his room and saw Pyrrha standing in the door way with her right arm out and her left hand holding her head.

"Your all being very loud." Pyrrha said as she glared at her friends. "I have a headache and would like to continue sleeping."

Jaune unstrapped his armor and rolled off of the floor before walking over to Pyrrha. "Pyrrha, are you okay? You've been out for over a day." He said as he placed his hands on her shoulder.

She was about to respond before she heard a slight gasping like someone was trying to drown a fish in the air. Looking past Jaune she saw Leo on the ground with his arm pinned to the floor. Her eyes went wide when she saw that he had no arm on his right side. "My word! What happened to him?!" She shouted as she ran over to him. In Pyrrha's panic she lost focus on her semblance and the metal in the room stopped sticking to the floor.

Leo sharply inhaled as he felt his implants go back to work, his heart began to pump again and his lungs started to inflate. The metallic implants that he had been given when he was nearly killed by Adam were all that kept him alive, as they functioned as replacement organs. Bringing his hand to his chest he tore his shirt off and opened one of the hatches on that led to his vitals. Ignoring the shocked and disgusted stares that he got from the massive scars he flipped several switches and turned a few knobs before the gears let out a burst of steam and his breathing seemed to return to normal.

Leo turned to look at the red haired spartan who had just sprinted into the room. "You... You could have killed me without even trying..." He said as he raised his arm and began to move it around to check for damages. Pyrrha was about to respond when there was a knock at the door. Ruby walked over and opened it to find a cart being pushed through the door by Professor Tyme and Orion. They wheeled the cart over to Leo before uncovering his now repaired arm.

"Now Qrow's being shockingly lenient with your punishment Leo, I expect that when we arrive at our destination that you don't try to break rank again. Am I clear boy?" Orion asked as he pulled Leo to his feet.

"Yes sir." He said halfheartedly, turning so that they could reattach his arm. Orion and Tyme grabbed the arm and lifted the end with several wires and gears up to Leo's shoulder. As they got close to each other the wire on his shoulder shot out to connect to the wire of the arm. The began to draw in the new limb until a clicking was heard as the gears began to lock into place. Leo gave the limb a few test punches and rolled his shoulders a few time to test to make sure every thing was working properly.

Tyme reached into the cart and grabbed a Grimm mask and handed it to Leo with a smile. "I heard that yours was damaged, here's a replacement." Leo took it with a nod before the two professors turned to leave. Once the door was closed Leo walked over to the desk and grabbed a screwdriver before opening up his arm. He shoved the wires within the arm to the side before he found what he was after.

"What are you doing?" Sun asked as he walked over to Leo, his weapon still drawn in the event that Leo hadn't calmed down.

Without warning Leo stabbed the screwdriver into the small black box inside his arm and with a quick spark it popped. Leo closed his arm and grabbed the mask that Tyme had given to him. He brought it to his face and studied it before smashing it and throwing it into the nearby trash. Then he turned to look at Sun. "Checking for cameras and microphones." He said as he walked over to the open door to JNPR's room. Disappearing inside they could hear him rummaging around in the room before he reappeared with a shirt and his vest.

The ship groaned loudly as it jerked to one side, causing the students to stumble. Ren turned to the window of the room and looked out to see only clouds, until a large dark shadow flew past the window. He turned to the rest of the room with a serious look on his face. "It would appear that the Grimm have found the ship."

* * *

 **Beacon Academy** **Tower**

Ozpin sat in his chair with a chess board before him. The pieces seemed to move on their own as he watched the board change. To most, it would appear that Ozpin was alone in the room with the moving chess board, but through Ozpin's glasses, one would be able to see the other player as he waved his hand and moved his pieces around. Ozpin could see Merlin sitting across from him through his glasses.

Merlin waved his hand as the Black Queen took one of Ozpin's pawns. "So, you sent a search party after the magical weapon." Merlin said as he watched Ozpin move his knight in to a position to cause a check.

"Yes." Ozpin replied as he sat back in his chair.

Merlin looked to the board and moved his King into the corner behind his Rook. "What makes you think they're special enough to gain the weapons favor?" Merlin asked as he watched Ozpin capture one of his bishops.

"I have sent one of my most trusted associates, and two teams of my schools most promising students. Along with that, Ironwood has sent a team of his own along with one of his military specialists. I am confident that one of them is worthy." Ozpin said as he watched the board, trying to predict the next move.

Merlin moved his Queen and captured one of Ozpin's Rooks before looking back to him. "That still doesn't answer my question Ozpin. Why do you think they're worthy?"

Ozpin looked to the board for a moment before looking back to Merlin. "I have seen them each fight personally. I am confident that Ms. Belladonna or Ms Valkyrie will receive the power. Each of them have been shown to have the ability to follow the directions of their leader excellently. If the old legends are true, then Merlin's power can only be given to a follower, rather than a leader." Ozpin said as he moved his Rook to the opposite side of the board to capture one of the black Pawns.

Merlin gave a small laugh as he waved his hand and watched as his Queen captured Ozpin's knight. "Interesting observation Ozpin. But I still think that you may have sent a rather small party to True Remnant. You had better hope that they don't stop at the large continent between Remnant and the Island with the weapon."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he scanned the board. Merlin had managed to capture a majority of his pieces and was only a few moves away from a Checkmate. Moving his remaining knight into position he blocked his King from being attacked by the Queen.

"You have always used that strategy Oz. You sacrifice everything in order to protect your charge. But," Merlin said as he moved his Rook into position behind the King. "You always seem to miss something while you watch the big picture." Merlin watched as Ozpin's eyes darted back and forth trying to find a way to escape the impending Checkmate.

Ozpin grabbed his final pawn and used it to capture Merlin's final bishop and turn it into a Queen. "Maybe so, but I hardly think that's a bad quality to have. As long as the King survives the game can go on." He said as he took a sip of his coffee.

Merlin coughed a few times before laughing. "I suppose so, the question is though, do you have the ability to protect your King when it comes down to it?" Merlin asked as he moved his Queen into position taking Ozpin's new Queen. "You always have a bad habit of placing your King on the front lines in these games Ozpin."

Ozpin smiled as he stared down at the board. He moved his hand and used his King to capture the black Queen that had gotten to close to it. "Always remember Merlin, even when backed into a corner, even a King can fight back." Ozpin said as he sat back in his chair.

Merlin watched as the next few turns became a blur of Ozpin using his remaining three pieces to change the tide of the battle and finally place Merlin's king in Checkmate. Merlin starred down at the board in disbelief. "It has been several centuries since someone was able to best me in Chess, I applaud you on your victory. This still doesn't change the fact that you sent those children to True Remnant without their King though."

Ozpin rose from his seat and grabbed his cane before walking to the elevator. He turned to look at Merlin one final time before the doors closed. "Ah, but that's where your wrong Merlin. I was never the King, merely one of his Pawns to be used then thrown to the side. The true King of the world of Remnant is on his journey now, it only remains to be seen whether or not he can truly conquer the challenges that await him."

Merlin watched as the doors slid shut before standing and walking to the window of the tower. The city below was in chaos as Grimm had broken through during the attack. The moment that Minstral and Vacuo learned that the Nautilus and the Leviathan had left their respective kingdoms, they each launched a coordinated assault on Vale and Atlas. Merlin could see students in the courtyard below killing Grimm as they ran to siege the school.

"Your king better get to the weapon fast Ozpin. Or they wont have a kingdom to come back to."

* * *

 **Hey every one, hope your having a good February, I was meaning to have this chapter up the day that chapter 10 came out on Rooster Teeth's website, but I was having some trouble nailing down the backstory for some of my characters.**

 **To those of you who may ask, No, I did not ignore my promise to tell about what happened to Yang during the five months, and I will write that later, this chapter was about telling the past for Leo, Ren and Nora, then showing a part of Ozpin's overarching plan.**

 **leave a review if you can think of anything else you'd like me to explain before they reach True Remnant, or Just leave a review if you feel like telling me what you liked or didn't like. Each review helps me to turn out chapters faster.**


	6. The Gamble

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters or locations.**

* * *

 **Topside landing platform of the Leviathan**

"White Lion!" Ruby yelled as she swung Crescent Rose towards the approaching form of a Griffon.

Leo's arms sprung to life as they shifted into their Gatling gun mode. Several white Glyphs appeared along Leo's arms and in front of him in the air. Leo flexed his arms and they began to fire, the bullets being accelerated to insane speeds by the force of the gun and the assistance of the Glyphs. The bullets tore through the Grimm that they came into contact with, causing the numerous Grimm to begin scattering to avoid being grouped together under the hail of dust and lead.

The winding sound died down as Leo turned to load another belt of ammunition into his arms. Due to being on the top of a fast moving ship, the usual air bullets he fired became useless, forcing him to fall back on using ordinary bullets like the rest of the teams. He had found the armory for the ship on the way and had grabbed three satchel bags of .50 fire dust ammo, all of which were now placed at his feet.

Ruby turned to look at JNPR, who with the assistance of Nova and Orion were holding off the Grimm on the starboard side of the Leviathan. She heard a loud thud and looked to see that a giant Nevermore had landed not twenty feet before her. The massive beast roared at Ruby as it got ready to attack. Thinking quickly she saw that Yang and Blake were close together.

"Bumblebee!" She shouted as she rolled out of the way of the Grimm's beak. Yang and Blake turned to the Nevermore and charged. Blake threw the blade of Gambol Shroud through legs of the massive avian. Yang caught the blade and the two began to weave in and out of the Grimm's legs before ending at opposite sides of the creature. With one powerful yank, Yang and Blake drew the Nevermore's legs together causing it to fall onto its face. Ruby moved fast in killing the fallen Grimm with Crescent Rose before it could attempt to stand.

Winter propeller herself from Grimm to Grimm with her Glyphs as she danced across the sky killing any Grimm her blade could reach. She swung he sword towards a Nevermore ahead of her and braced herself to launch off the Grimm once she'd finished it. She connected with the Grimm and sailed through it as it finished dissolving. Thinking fast, Winter propelled herself higher into the air past the now dead Grimm she had been aiming for. Turning to her right she could see a large crow attacking the Nevermore that got close to it, the birds talons raking across the masks of the Grimm.

'What a stupid bird!' Winter thought as she watched the crow attempt to kill the Grimm the size of a bus. Winter turned and dove towards the Nevermore that the bird was attacking and landed on the top of the Grimm's tail. She ran up the length of the monster, leaving deep slashes as she went. Reaching the beasts head she saw that the crow was close to the size of a man and was actually leaving marks as it attacked. Swinging her sword, Winter decapitated the Nevermore and moved to create another Glyph before a Griffon slammed into her causing her to falter and fall past the Leviathan into the clouds below. Weiss watched her sister disappear below the cloud barrier, followed by a large bird.

"Winter!" She screamed as she ran to the edge of the ship, prepared to jump down after her. Weiss starred down over the side scanning for her sister when she heard Ruby call her. Weiss turned to see a Griffon diving at her and attempted to brace herself for the hit, knowing it was to close to her to attempt to dodge. Weiss closed her eyes waiting for the hit.

"..."

"Weiss! Get off your knee's! This fights not over yet!"

Weiss turned to look behind her, and saw the Griffon that had attacked her split down the middle falling towards the clouds below, with Winter floating behind her. At first glance Weiss became terribly confused when she saw that her sister had grown two massive black feathered wings on her back, before she noticed that it was merely a massive crow holding her by the shoulders.

The crow flew forward quickly, allowing for Winter to slice through several Griffon's before being set back down on the deck. Winter turned to the bird with a look of shock as it morphed back into the form of Qrow. He ran his hand through his hair, pushing several feathers out of his hair, and slicking it back. He turned to Winter with a smirk.

"So that's why your name is Qrow." Winter said as she raised her sword and slashed through an attacking Nevermore.

Qrow scoffed. "No, my parents named me that because its a badass name. My semblance being the ability to morph was just a coincidence." He said as he raised his gun and began to blow the Grimm out of the sky.

There was a loud grinding noise as the cannons on the ship began to move towards the large flock of Grimm, the robots on the ship and Nora who was still without her weapon at the command terminals for each of the various cannons. Ren could hear a crazed laughter as the largest cannon began to fire flak rounds into the crowd. Ren grabbed Jaune and Pyrrha and dragged them out of the way of a stray flak round.

Glaring up at the cannon he shouted into his scroll. "NORA! Watch where you're aiming!" The laughter died for a moment as the cannons began to rotate away from the front of the ship.

"Sorry Ren!" Nora yelled as she returned to firing the cannon.

Jaune tried to get to his feet before he felt a huge weight on his back as Leo was sent crashing into him. Pyrrha pried the dazed Faunus off of Jaune before turning to the giant Nevermore that had thrown the massive man. It was a giant Nevermore, with spikes lining the edges of its wings, and a spine running down the back of the beast to prevent attacks from behind and above from being effective. The Grimm let out a loud cry as it charged the small team of hunters before it.

Pyrrha raised her shield to block the creature before being thrown to the side by its beak. Landing with a roll she spun and threw her shield towards the Grimm's head. It bounced off with a satisfying clang as the treated metal clashed with the bone of the mask. Taking the opportunity that Pyrrha had given him Jaune lurched forward and slashed at the Nevermore's leg. The beast let out a shrill cry of pain as the blade of Crocea Mors cut the limb clean off. Falling to its side the Grimm attempted to get back into the air by flapping its wings to push the team of hunters away with the gusts of wind.

*Shunk*

The Giant Nevermore fell forward onto it's chest and began to disintegrate, a large Battle Axe protruding from the top of it's back. Nova jumped up onto the Grimm and hauled her weapon out of the decaying monster before turning to Jaune and his team.

"Your kills take to long! Never spend more that thirty seconds on the same Grimm if your with a team!" She shouted before she narrowed her eyes at Leo who was getting back to his feet, having recovered from the hit he took from the Grimm. "I expect more from you Leo. You may not have trained at any of the academies, but the general and Dr. Polendina have spent the last two years perfecting your body into the perfect civil service solider, those arms are the latest in anti-Grimm technology. If you can't prove to me that you can use them effectively, then I will have them removed and have you sent to live with the rest of those filthy Faunus in the Schnee mines." Nova said as she rose into the air and began to slash at anything that got near.

Pyrrha turned to Leo and saw him glaring up at Nova before he turned and began to provide covering fire to team RWBY. "Don't worry, Nova's the only one of my sisters that is openly opposed to Faunus." Jaune said as he walked over to Pyrrha. The Grimm flock had finally begun to thin out, granting the weary combatants brief reprieve from the battle. "My mom and dad aren't the fondest of the Faunus, and neither are the majority of my sisters. The two youngest haven't really formed an opinion on the subject yet, since they're pretty young, but I'm pretty sure they'll end up like my mom and dad too."

Pyrrha gave Jaune a confused look. "If your whole family hates Faunus, why are you different? Most children follow what their parents say when they're young." Pyrrha asked as she shifted her spear into a rifle to provide some ranged support to the more melee oriented fighters.

"All of my sisters are gifted fighters, scholars or prodigies. I was just the only son born into the Arc family since my Great-Great grandfather, which is why I was given Crocea Mors. I wasn't smart like my older sister Violet, I wasn't a gifted fighter like Nova, and I can't play every instrument blindfolded like my younger sister Angel. My parents laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a hunter, and when I told them I got into beacon they said not to worry when I was sent back home." Jaune said bitterly as he spun and slashed the wing off a Griffon.

"I grew up in the Arc Manor, a little outside Vale. We weren't as rich as the Schnee family, but we had been a family a warriors and heroes for centuries, so we had accumulated a good bit of wealth. We had servants and maids, butlers and groundskeepers. I'd love to show you and the rest of the team what my house looks like one day, but the point is that I got to see how the wealthy treated the poor. We have a few Faunus slaves that lived in the sheds behind the house, who were treated even worse than the servants."

Pyrrha looked to Jaune in horror. "Your family had slaves?!"

"'Has' slaves. I don't particularly agree with my father about our family's policies, but its one of the reasons I don't give Weiss any grief about all of the Schnee family's business dealings. When your family's wealthy enough, you can get away with quite a bit. The local authorities turn a blind eye to the slaves, and in return, my father and grandfather fund the police and fire departments for most of Vale." Jaune raised his shield to deflect a stray feather that had been thrown from a Nevermore when one of the Flak rounds had hit it. "I played with some of the Faunus slaves we had while I was growing up, and while they seemed nice enough, it wasn't until I got older that I could see the hatred in their eyes."

Pyrrha was still trying to wrap her head around the concept of Jaune and his family owning slaves as her leader explained his empathy towards the Faunus. "I had discovered that my great-great grandfather had fought for Faunus rights in the great war with Crocea Mors, and had many Faunus in his squad. Turns out that my great-great grandmother however, couldn't stand the species. After my great-great grandfather died saving his squad from an assault from a nearby stronghold, my great-great grandmother blamed the Faunus as a species for his death, and drilled that flawed ideology into all of her descendants." Jaune watched as the last of the Grimm fell to the hunters on the deck and sheathed his sword.

"I spent my whole childhood admiring my Great-great grandfather, and for a time, I also blamed the Faunus for his death. When I stumbled upon a book with a direct account of the battle at the local library, I discovered that my Great-great grandfather had died while defending Faunus refuges and families from the attacking army, not a squad of soldiers that had abandoned him. I decided that since the man I looked up to so much had seen fit to forfeit his life for the Faunus, then maybe there was something in them that I wasn't seeing."

Ren folded his guns down into his sleeves and looked up to the cannons that were still firing flak rounds. "Nora! You can stop now! The Grimm are dead!" He shouted, trying to get his partners attention. The guns continued to fire for a few more seconds before shutting down. The barrels of the weapons retracting into the dome before being lowered below deck.

"Give it to me straight Ren. How many did we lose?" Nora's voice was solemn and serious sounding as it came over the speakers on the scrolls for each of the team.

Ren sighed and raised his scroll to his mouth. "We didn't lose anyone Nora. Everyone's still alive."

There was a brief period of silence before Nora's voice came back on the scroll. "Great!" He voice had gotten back the peppy tone it usually had.

Pyrrha laughed at her teammates happy demeanor before turning back to Jaune. "So what was it that you didn't see?" She asked as she placed her shield on her back.

Jaune sighed lightly as he turned to look at the rest of the crew who were celebrating in their own ways. "I'm not really sure. I found out that my Great-great grandfather had Faunus friends, and that he hated slavery, so I just started to adopt his ideology. I stopped seeing the Faunus as trash, and began to see them as just a subspecies of humans that was getting the short end of the stick." Jaune shifted Crocea Mors into a sheath and placed it back on his hip.

"So what do you think of the Faunus you've met since you came to Beacon?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to look at Blake and Sun.

"They're all pretty great people. Blake is a little anti social, but if I grew up in the White Fang, and had most of my life change in the blink of an eye, I probably would be too. Sun's a carefree goof ball, but he's a good guy, and the way he led his team in the Vytal festival a few months ago was really impressive. Velvet is nice, but she seems like she's always nervous. Other than that, I haven't really met too many Faunus, save the one's my family has as slaves."

"What about Leo?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to the giant Faunus that was being scolded by Nova.

Jaune frowned as he looked over to Leo and his sister. "I'm not too sure about Leo. He seems like a good guy, since he helped Yang down in the caves, but he acts like a bit of a jerk. We know that he was in the White Fang, from listening in on the spy cams, but it seem's like he's got some other motive behind being a hunter." Jaune said as he watched Nova shout at Leo.

"Well, that was fun. But I think it's time everyone got back to their rooms. You are still being punished after all." Qrow said as he and Winter walked over to Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Punishment?" Pyrrha asked as she turned to greet the new arrival to the conversation.

"Oh that's right, you were out cold when they brought you in. JNPR and RWBY along with Sun and Neptune are confined to quarters until we reach True Remnant. Leo and Yang will be getting a more severe punishment once we get to True Remnant, for leaving the ship early, and fro attacking the teachers when we tried to stop them." Qrow said as he looked down at Pyrrha.

 ***BWAAAAAAAAAAA***

Everyone's head snapped to the right side of the Leviathan as they heard a terribly loud horn from behind them. Qrow and Winter sprinted to the railing and starred behind them as a ship emerged from below the clouds.

The Nautilus.

Winter's eyes widened when she saw the flagship of the Atlesian military come up alongside the Leviathan and match their speed.

"That's the Nautilus!" Weiss shouted with a cheer. "The General is sending the army with us to help!" Her team shared a small bit of happiness before they heard Winter shout.

"Open Fire!" Everyone Looked to Winter with a confused expression.

"Miss Schnee, need I remind you that this ship is one of our own vessels?" Orion came up beside Winter and focused his glare down upon her. "Or have you forgotten what our great flagship looks like?"

There was a low humming coming from the Nautilus as it began to shift.

"That ship was captured by the White Fang and Roman Torchwick one week ago!" Winter shouted.

The Nautilus's guns came into view as the crew began to file out onto the deck. All of them dressed as White Fang. Winter grabbed Qrow and Orion and dragged them out of the way of a hail of bullets. The larger guns on the Nautilus finished deploying and began to turn into their firing position.

Ren brought his scroll back to his face. "Nora! Get those guns back online now!" He shouted with a great deal of panic. StormFlower emerged from his sleeves as he began to fire back at the White Fang.

Ruby brought her scope to her eye and focused on the bridge of the Nautilus. She could see a figure in the window, with a white suit, and a bowler hat. He smiled and waved down at her before moving his hand down onto a button. "Why hello again Red. Gotta say, never thought I'd see you way out here, away from all the safety that the kingdom provides you!" He shouted into the microphone with a sly grin on his face. "But since your here, I may as well show you my new toy!" As Roman finished speaking, the guns came into position and began to fire at the Leviathan.

The ship began to shake violently as the shields absorbed most of the damage. Leo was thrown to the edge of the ship and slammed into the railing. He climbed to his feet and attempted to fire back at the attacking ship before being thrown again, this time falling past the railing and onto one of the guns. The gun was damaged when the several hundred pound Faunus slammed into the gun, and exploded when the robots tried to fire it.

Rolling onto his chest Leo focused down below the clouds and felt a change in the air. Inhaling quickly he let out a sonic pulse, trying to feel what was below the ship. After a few seconds the pulse returned and Leo began to grin. He raised his scroll to his face and the robot captain came into view.

"Ah hello Fleet Admiral! I can assure you that these blasted pirates will never sink this mighty vessel! Have at thee!" The captain shouted as he pulled a lever that caused the cannons to begin to fire a return volley.

"Get the ship below the clouds! I want us in the sea now!" Leo shouted as he started to climb back up to the top deck.

"Right away sir!" The captain said. True to his words, the captain began to make the ship dive below the clouds.

Roman scowled and turned to the captain of his ship. "Follow them! I don't want them getting away! Last thing I need is for Cinder to chew me out when I get back for losing these guys this fast."

The Nautilus gave chase and followed the Leviathan below the cloud barrier. The Leviathan quickly reached the water below, and began to coast atop the large waves from the storm. Leo dragged himself over the railing and saw that most of the teams had been evacuated below deck, save for Qrow, Tyme and Jaune. Tyme saw Leo and waved him over.

"Quickly now boy! The ship must have taken a hit that forced us below the storm clouds! We need to get below deck before one of these bolts of lightning hits us!" Tyme shouted as he urged Leo to hurry to the door.

"No! I ordered the ship down. I have a plan!" Leo shouted as he turned to the waves in front of the ship.

"Your plans never work Leo!" Tyme yelled as he rushed over to the Faunus.

"Well then lets hope that this is where the losing streak ends!" Leo shouted as he grabbed on to the front of the ship as a wave taller than the Leviathan appeared before the ship.

"Leo! You can't swim!" Tyme yelled as he tried to drag the Faunus away from the bow of the ship.

 ***SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE***

There was a shrill shriek as the wave ahead of the ship exploded. A massive black object appeared in its place. At first glance, one might mistake it for a large King Taijitu, but this was larger that the Leviathan, with three heads on one end, the far right head was black, with red eyes and a mask that had a thick spine that trailed down the length of the Grimm, the far left head was white with black eyes, and a mask to match the one on the far right. In the center was a grey head with one red eye, and one black eye, and a red mask that trailed down past where the heads met, and down into the water. Each head had a cobra like hood with a red and white pattern, and a sail fin on the top of the masks.

The gargantuan Grimm stared down at the ship before it, each head moving to one side to examine it. Tyme's breath caught in his throat as he starred up at the Grimm. Finally catching his voice he shouted. "E-EMPEROR TAIJITU!"

The Emperor Taijitu's heads roared as it bared down upon the ship. Suddenly the middle head was slammed to the side as a flak round crashed into it from the Nautilus. Turning to the attacking ship it vanished beneath the waves and moved to the Nautilus. Leo and Tyme watched as the Emperor Taijitu shot out of the water and wrapped itself around the Nautilus, before the ship could take to the air. Several White Fang grunts were either crushed or thrown off the ship when the giant Grimm attacked.

Leo grabbed Tyme and sprinted over to Qrow and Jaune, who were themselves pale from seeing the giant Grimm, and rushed inside before ordering the Leviathan back into the air.

Reaching the bridge, where the rest of the organic crew had gathered to watch the fight with the Nautilus, Qrow walked over to a chair and slid down into it before letting out a breath that he didn't know he was holding. "LEO!" Qrow shouted as he turned to the large Faunus. "What the hell was that!"

"A Grimm."

"I know it was a Grimm! How the hell'd you know it was there! And beyond that, if you knew it was there, then WHY THE FUCK DID YOU BRING THE SHIP TO IT!?" Qrow shouted, quickly getting back up from the chair.

Leo turned to face Qrow. "I knew it would attack the Nautilus. If it attacked them, then we would be able to escape."

"Bullshit!" Qrow shouted. "That thing was about to attack us! We were just lucky that the Nautilus shot it! If not, then we'd be fighting that thing, and not the White Fang!"

"It was a risk I was willing to take." Leo said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't care if it was a risk that you were willing to take! You endangered the lives of yourself, and everyone on this ship! You endangered this mission, and if the powers of Merlin are really as grand as they say, then you may have also endangered the whole of the Human world with that little stunt!" Qrow was fuming. "Ever since we got on board this ship, people have been going over my head left and fucking right! I am leading this mission! There is no higher authority on this ship than me!"

Qrow walked up to Leo and pointed his finger at him. "You and Yang are already in hot water for leaving the ship without permission, and even then, you endangered the lives of the students when they tried to go and save you!" Qrow focused his glare right into Leo's eyes. "You are a solider in the Atlesian military, Jimmy personally recommended to Ozpin that he take you and your team on this mission, but only you agreed to come. When you boarded this ship, you joined a new team, and I'm the leader. I don't want to see you or any others disregarding my orders any more this mission, or I will have you flown back to the kingdoms. Is that clear!"

Leo paused before sighing and letting his arms fall to his sides in a salute. "Yes sir."

"Good." Qrow said as he turned around and watched as the Leviathan broke the cloud barrier and reappeared in calmer sky's. Qrow sighed. "Now then, in spite of breaking rank, your little stunt did save the lives of this crew, and either slow or destroy the attacking ship, and I'd say that deserves a reward." Qrow turned to the teams of students with a smirk. "You can all have access to the lounge and the mess hall for the rest of the trip."

There was a resounding cheer as the students sprinted off to the lounge. Nova turned and caught Leo by the arm. "Were the hell do you think your going? You could have killed me by bringing that Grimm here! Your going back to my quarters and leaving your arms in the cases they came in, then your benched for the rest of the mission! You can bet that the general will hear about this you filthy beast!" She shouted.

Leo looked back over to Qrow who was now talking with Tyme and Orion, then glared down at Nova. "You heard Qrow, He's the leader on this ship, not you." Leo yanked his arm out of Nova's hand and continued on down the hall towards the lounge.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

Cinder's heel's clicked as she walked along the destroyed sidewalk, past the corpse's of students and White Fang alike. In the city below the Grimm had overrun the soldiers and were slaughtering the civilians that couldn't fend for themselves. Patch had sent reinforcements, and had even succeed in bringing down the Argo, but they had too few huntsman available that could suppress the Grimm. Taiyang Xiao Long had posed a problem, as did Glynda and the rest of the teaching staff for the academies, but they had tired quickly as the fight drew on into the night.

Most huntsman and huntress's had retreated and created strongholds within the city that they would guard and escort survivors to, but the White Fang had mad quick work of anyone that attempted to defend them.

Cinder came to a halt as she saw before her, the very man she had come to find. "Professor Ozpin." She said, a dark tone to her voice and a sly grin on her face. "I believe you have something that belongs to me." She said as she drew out her bow.

Ozpin sit out a small amount of blood and glared back at Cinder. "That's Headmaster Ozpin, to you young lady. And I'm afraid that I haven't the faintest idea what your looking for." Ozpin's stance was shaky, as he had been protecting students from larger Grimm.

"I think that he's not taking you seriously Cinder." Emerald said as she walked out from behind a pillar, her blades twirling around in her hands.

Ozpin's grip on his cane tightened as he pushed his glasses back into their proper position. "I do not know why it is that you have caused this attack on Vale, or my school, but as the headmaster, and as a Huntsman, I have a duty to stop you." Ozpin spun his cane around in his hand so that the tip was facing out. "I will give you a chance to surrender peacefully."

Emerald growled and threw her blades towards Ozpin. Cinder turned sharply to emerald. "No! Wait don't!" As the blade's chains got into range, Ozpin wrapped his cane in the chains before dragging Emerald to him. Once in range Ozpin dealt numerous successive strikes to her thighs, abdomen and chest, before throwing her to the side with a powerful swipe. Emerald crashed through the pillar that she had emerged from behind and vanished into the dust cloud behind it.

Cinder watched her underling get tossed around like it was nothing before firing several arrows at Ozpin. Bring his cane to bear, Ozpin easily deflected the oncoming arrows before diving towards Cinder to strike. Shifting her bow into blades, Cinder attempted to match Ozpin's blows with her own strikes, but to no avail. For every strike that Cinder blocked or deflected, three more would connect and push her back.

"Why did you attack these people?!" Ozpin shouted as he flung Cinder back into a wall. "What reason could you have to attack innocent civilians?!"

Cinder crawled to her feet and glared up at Ozpin. Waving her hand she placed several fire runes on the ground below Ozpin. Moving quickly Ozpin dove to the side, only to be met with a volley of arrows from Cinders bow. Both fighters Aura's holding strong, they moved in sync, each attempting to find a killing blow with each strike. Cinder got the upper hand and threw Ozpin backwards towards a pillar before placing several fire runes around him. They each began to spin and sputter violently before exploding below Ozpin.

Standing to her full height Cinder smiled at the carnage that the explosion had created, noting that pillar that she had thrown Ozpin into had collapsed on top of him. He smile quickly vanished however, when she saw Ozpin under the rubble and smoke, surrounded by a shield created by his cane. "Why wont you just die!" She shouted as she began to throw projectiles of glass and fire at the shield.

Ozpin leapt towards Cinder while in his shield and cause the woman in red to dodge to the side. When she came to a stop she turned to see Ozpin standing before her with his cane at her throat. "Your coming with me."

Before Ozpin could attempt to back up his statement the ground began to shake violently. Cinder's grin returned to her face as she starred up at him. "Seems that your too late Professor." Cinder turned to the sky and let out a loud whistle.

Ozpin looked to the sky with horror as the whistle was met with a reply.

 ***ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR***

Ozpin watched as a massive dragon emerged from the top of Mountain Glenn. The beast crawled from it's century old tomb and shook the dirt and rocks off its wings before taking to the sky, heading straight towards Beacon. Turning to glare down at Cinder, Ozpin spoke quickly. "What have you done."

Cinder placed a fire rune where she was sitting and rolled to the side, allowing for the distracted Ozpin to take the full force of the blast to the face. As Ozpin got back to his feet he noticed Cinder before him, with several large spikes of burning glass in the air around her. As he prepared to deflect the projectiles, he noticed something out of the side of his vision. Turning he saw yet another Cinder, with more glass spikes. And they just continued to multiply until he was surrounded by over twenty Cinders.

Ozpin turned around trying to find the right one before she attacked him. All at once the clones began to speak. **_"Such arrogance... To believe that you alone could defend this pathetic world that you have built. I will have the power of the maidens, then with the help of her, I shall destroy this pitiful world that you have created."_** Each Cinder began to rapidly fire their spikes at Ozpin, and he created his shield in hopes of stopping the attacks.

As the spikes connected the shield began to crack, before one large spike broke through and knocked Ozpin away from his cane. The Cinder's began to vanish, until only one remained. Cinder walked over to Ozpin with a confident smirk and lifted his cane to her face. "So this is the weapon that she was so afraid of... The scepter of the Kings." Cinder twirled the cane around in her hand for a moment before snapping it in half and smiling down at Ozpin.

"She wants you alive, so you can watch your world burn as she takes every little bit of hope that you have left."

Ozpin's aura had been exhausted, and the last spike that had hit him had cracked one of his ribs. He looked up at Cinder through his cracked glasses. "Why? Your a Human! Why would you side with her?! What do you have to gain from destroying the Human world?!" He went into a coughing fit as he hacked up blood from where his rib had stabbed into his lung.

Cinder continued to smile as she drew back on her bow. "I think I'll quote that fool Torchwick for this one. It's not what I have to gain, it's that I can't afford to lose." The twinkle in Cinder's eyes grew brighter and brighter until her left eye burst into lames from her half of the fall maidens power.

Ozpin saw this and chuckled lightly. "So it was you then... Well I'm afraid your too late. The Maiden of Fall has already passed on, and her powers have moved to their rightful successor. I'm happy to say that you have failed this day."

Cinder glared down at Ozpin's cocky attitude in the face of certain death, and was enraged to learn that the power she had come to obtain was no longer here. "Very well, then I suppose killing you will have to do." Cinder drew back on her bow and aimed her arrow down at Ozpin's face as he glared up at her. Just as she was about to release the arrow, a bullet collided with her bow, throwing it to the side. Her arrow fired and hit the ground beside Ozpin's leg. Turning to glare at the intruders she was met with a Mace to the face that threw her back into a wall hard.

Her vision was blurry as Emerald helped her to her feet. Glaring forward she could see the General carrying Ozpin, and Cardin Winchester hauling away the remains of Ozpin's cane.

"Should we chase them?" Emerald asked.

Cinder shook her head to clear her vision. "No. The cane is destroyed, and Ozpin is injured. Without the Fall maidens power, I have no reason to stay here. Were leaving at once. Contact the Nautilus, I want Mercury, Adam and Roman to find that Maiden, and I want her brought to me so I an kill her myself!"

Emerald helped Cinder into a Bullhead, and they took off away from the school, allowing for the Dragon, and various other Grimm to lay waste to the school.

* * *

 **Leviathan Lounge**

Team RWBY, JNPR and SN had retired to the lounge to grab some drinks and relax, with Leo and Oobleck following behind shortly. JNPR were sitting at their own table chatting quietly amongst themselves while Weiss and Blake sat across from Sun and Neptune, conversing on the fight from earlier. Leo and Oobleck had taken their seats at the bar and had ordered their respective drinks. Oobleck had simply gotten more coffee, while Leo, being among the few people in the room of age to drink alcohol, alongside Oobleck, Yang and Jaune, had gotten a scotch on the rocks and was calmly listening to the various conversations in the room.

"Leo!" The large Faunus turned from his drink to see Ruby who was standing behind him with an excited look on her face. "What was that thing! How did you get it to do what you wanted?! Yang said that you can control Grimm!" Leo was getting a headache, and he wasn't sure if it was from the scotch, of from Ruby's rapid assault of questions.

"That Miss Rose," Said Oobleck, who was sitting on the opposite end of the bar from Leo with a glass of coffee in his hand. "Was an Emperor Taijitu. Very rarely seen in the Human world, and almost unbeatable in it's natural habitat. They inhabit the deep waters of True Remnant, and have venom strong enough to melt through the hardest of metals. Unlike the King Taijitu, who has two heads, one on each end, the Emperor Taijitu only has three heads, all on the same side." Oobleck took a sip of his coffee before look back to Ruby. "Only five people have defeated one in the last century. Ozpin, Port, James Ironwood, The headmaster of Haven and your mother, Summer Rose."

Ruby's eyes opened wide. "My mother has beaten one of those things?!" She shouted.

Oobleck nodded. "It was quite impressive too. The Grimm had made it past the barriers of the Human world, and was attacking cities and towns across the continent. Your mother's team was called into action against it, but Qrow was too far away to respond in time, Raven was MIA and Taiyang had his hands full dealing with Yang, who was still very young at the time. The only member of team STRQ that showed up was your mother. The battle lasted for an entire day, only ending when your mother used some mysterious power to subdue the beast, and killed it."

"Whoa... My mom was so cool." She said as she thought back to the sheer size of the Grimm that had attacked the Leviathan, amazed that her mother could defeat one alone.

"Indeed, what made the feat even more unbelievable, was that it was done while she was five months pregnant with you Miss Rose." Oobleck said as he placed a now empty cup of coffee on the bar.

Ruby's jaw hit the floor. "She was pregnant when she fought that thing..."

"I told you that she was super mom!" Yang said as she grabbed Blake by the shoulder and laughed.

Leo finished his scotch and turned back to Ruby. "Well, now that you know what it was, yes your sister is right, I can control Grimm, but nothing as big as that. Mostly I can control small weak willed ones like Beowolves and Ursai. And truth be told, I had no idea what was under the water when I sent out a Sonic Pulse, I only knew it was big. If I had known it was a snake I wouldn't have taken the ship to it." Leo said as he shook slightly.

"Whats the matter big guy? Afraid of snakes?" Yang said with a grin as she turned to face Leo.

"It's a rational fear! They creep me out." Leo said as he defended himself from Yang. "And I didn't control the Emperor Taijitu, it's as Qrow said, I was counting on the Nautilus to hit it with it's cannons. If I had been wrong, we would have all died." Leo looked down to Ruby expecting her to be mad at him.

"But you weren't wrong." Leo raised an eyebrow at the small girl before him. Ruby was at full height, only past Leo's waist, being a little over five feet tall. "You took a risk and it paid off. I'd say that it was the right thing to do."

Leo gave her and incredulous look before laughing happily. "I suppose it was wasn't it." Leo said as he turned back to the bar and looked to the robot tending the bar. "Another scotch!" He turned back to Ruby with a smile and patted her on the head. "Your awfully forgiving to someone who nearly got you killed a little more than an hour ago."

"I lead my own team at Beacon, So I know that you need to have plans, and that they tend not to got the way you want them too, so you need to take risks. You took that risk, and it allowed us to continue our given mission. No negative backlash on us, other than a moment of dread from seeing that Grimm." Ruby said as she climbed onto the bar stool beside the massive Faunus.

Leo looked down at Ruby with a puzzled face before turning to the drink before him. "You speak with the wisdom of someone far beyond your year Ruby." He said as he took another drink .

"I was just repeating what I remembered from the stories that Yang used to read to me when I was younger." She said as she spun in circles on her stool.

Leo spit out his drink before going into a laughing fit, his deep and gravely voice rebounding off the walls of the lounge as he placed his scotch down on the bar to avoid spilling it. Once he got his laughter under control he turned to Ruby. "I did not expect to hear you say that, but thank you Ruby. No one's made me laugh like that since before I lost my family." He turned to the bartender and apologized for spitting his drink out before looking down to Ruby. "For that you have earned a drink. What'll ya have."

Ruby looked around the room at the various selections that people had made. While Oobleck and Sun had coffee, Neptune, Blake, Weiss and Ren had varying brands of tea. Pyrrha and Jaune had soft drinks and Nora had some kind of combination of every kind of sugar known to man. Then she looked to Yang who had a bottle of beer, and to Leo who had a glass of scotch. Turning to look him in the eye she confidently said. "I'll have a beer!"

This caused Leo to laugh again and patted her on the head. "Ha, no, I think you'll have a milk."

"Chocolate milk!" She said as he got the bartenders attention.

"Alright fine, Chocolate milk."

* * *

 **The Rift**

Salem stood atop a pillar of solidified magma, starring down at the world of Remnant. It was night for the planet, and unlike some of the other planets that she had seen at night, Remnant only had lights across a small part of the world. The only spots on the planet with lights, were the Human world, who had four clusters of light visible from space, and the center island of the planet, which had an active volcano, and several smaller clusters of light surrounding the base of the island. Salem could only assume that they were from the fires of the lava reaching the water, and any foliage that was foolish enough to attempt to grow on the island.

With her eyesight, Salem could see events unfolding across the planet, and watched as the Nautilus was captured by the Emperor Taijitu, only to escape after a lengthy and damaging struggle. She also saw Ozpin escape from the ruins of Beacon, and Cinder fail in her task to capture him.

"It would seem that your pet has failed Salem." Spoke the ghostly figure behind her.

"Ozpin escaping was a minor setback. With the Scepter of Kings destroyed, he no longer possesses the ability to call upon the King's Semblance that he once possessed. Cinder has merely failed to secure the entertainment for this evening." Salem said as she watched doctors in an airship from Atlas preform surgery on Ozpin in an attempt to save him as the General and several teams from Beacon and Atlas Academy devised a strategy to defend their various kingdoms from the assaults.

"Be that as it may, Ozpin defeated us once. He's the reason that we're all trapped in this god forsaken realm. The fact that he is still live posses a great threat to us." Spoke the ghostly figure as it walked to Salem's side. "He always has these plans of his."

Salem chuckled lightly as she watched the crew of the Leviathan enjoy their drinks. "As I have said Zodak, without the Scepter of Kings at his disposal, Ozpin no longer posses the slightest of threats to us."

Zodak turned to Salem. "And what of the King's Semblance!? The Semblance that changes each time it's host loses the ability to call on it. It only goes to those who haven't got a semblance, and those who have the best interests of those around at heart!"

Salem glared down at the ghost. "Do not forget your place Zodak. I didn't rescue you from his dungeon so that you could attempt to tell me what I already know. I am well aware that the Kings Semblance has changed its host." Salem said as she turned to look back at the Leviathan. "I watched it transfer the moment that Ozpin's cane broke." She narrowed her eyes down at one human aboard the Leviathan.

"I thank you each day mistress for saving me from that evil man, but if you know then, who has the Kings Semblance?" Zodak asked as he bowed his head and took several steps back.

Salem glared down at the boy aboard the Leviathan with a wicked grin. "It seems to have been given to the student who has the lowest potential of the entire grade. Curious, the last dozen time the Semblance has transferred, it manifested in a great warrior, or a scholar, why would it choose that one?"

Zodak looked down at the planet below. "Who Mistress? Who is the one that we must destroy?"

Salem waved her hand before allowing Zodak, and the other few spirits present, to see the image of a boy sitting at a table with his tea, enjoying a soda. Salem's voice dripped with poison as she spoke the boys title. "He is the descendant of the very first Kings Semblance, He is the Present wielder of the legendary blade Crocea Mors, and he now poses the greatest threat of anyone on the planet of remnant."

Zodak starred up at the image of the boy before speaking his name, along with the rest of the group.

"Jaune Arc."

* * *

 **Alright! So, this was long overdue, and sorry but it is a bit shorter than some of my more recent chapters, but I have been dealing with a rather severe case of writes block. I know how I am going to end this story, Have since before I started writing it. But its making the journey to the end that's a monumental pain in the ass.**

 **I have been trying to make this story a bit more interesting to the community, but I feel as though the greater majority of you have become bored with my story. I feel I don't need to say this, but this story will not be updated on a regular basis, As stated above, I'm having a hard time deciding how I want this story to play out, until the big climax.**

 **Leave a review telling me what you thought of this most recent chapter. I was trying to flesh out Leo's powers a bit more this chapter, while also trying to keep the main cast as my primary focus.**

 **Oh! And if none of you have guessed yet, I loosely based Leo off of Zebra, A main character from the Manga Toriko.**


	7. The Man in Black

**Alright, so lets try to kick this one off with a bit of insight.**

 **To those of you who are concerned that Yang forgave the others too easily, it only seems that way because I'm very bad at writing tense moments. Yang is more or less just trying to be pleasant around everyone. She still hasn't forgiven any of them yet. The only one she actually trusts on the Leviathan right now is Leo, and that's more or less due to him helping her get her gauntlet back.**

 **Now then, I'm almost certain that I'm forgetting to mention something, but most of you don't read the part up here anyway. So let's just let you all move right into the story.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 **Hell's Point (Middle Island of True Remnant)**

From the outside, anyone who saw the massive island of Hell's Point would see only a massive volcano, and countless fires from the lava spewing forth from the depths of Remnant. However, if you were brave enough, or foolish enough to venture to the top of Hell's peak, and jump into the volcano, you would then be transported within the hidden fortress that stood just below the surface of the molten rock. Within the fortress, one would see that there was an entire civilization below the rocks, with women and children going about their business as though they didn't live inside the largest active volcano on their planet.

If one was to move to the lower levels of the island they could see the vast farms that provided food and room to play, along with the massive castle in the distance, the building itself had been built into the side of the volcano, and was home to the lord of these lands. As one got closer they could see the village that had grown around the castle, one may even be lucky enough to catch sight of the lord presiding over his adoring public.

The lord of these lands was a giant of a man, standing at seven and a half feet tall, with long green and silver hair, with a set of red horns atop his head, and a thin beard. His eyes were a clear silver with dark slits, easily seen behind his spectacles that rested on the end of his nose. The man was very well built, while not as muscular in appearance as Leo, he still gave off the impression of someone who had been training his body for many decades. At his side was a large great sword that rested withing a long blue and gold scabbard. He constantly wore a pocket watch on a chain that was hidden within his cloak. Also hidden by his cloak, and hidden from all but his most trusted associates, was the fact that he was missing his left arm from the bicep down.

On this day the Lord of Hell's Point starred down at his charge with an indifferent stare. The people of his kingdom were all Faunus, having been living hidden on this island for centuries. The Lord himself was older that anyone living in the Human world, being rumored to be close to Three Hundred years of age. He had been watching the people of his kingdom since his early years when they had been attacked by humans. When the Great War started, the Lord had his most trusted scientist create the illusion of the whole island, giving it the appearance that the volcano had erupted and made the island uninhabitable.

It worked, and after several years, the humans forgot about his people, they retreated back to their continents and began to fight within their own borders over petty grievances. The Lord grieved for the Faunus that he had left to their fate in the human world, but he knew not to risk the people of his kingdom for the lives of a few who had left of their own accord. Many years later, when the Lord had gotten word that the war had ended, he was skeptical. He knew well that humans were a warlike race, and knew it would take much to get them to back down from a fight. So he spent many weeks with his scientists trying to discern what had caused humanity to put down it's arms in favor of peace. All tests came back with the same conclusion.

The Grimm.

Many wars of days past had been halted due to the intervention of a common enemy, and many more had started in order to destroy the Grimm. The Grimm were creatures that thrived on Fear, Pain and sadness, all emotions that are synonymous with War. When the Grimm resurfaced after so many years, they began to drive humanity back, and in eighty years, the Lord had heard nothing from the humans. The great war and the Grimm, seemed to have taken away the need to explore. His scouts showed him that the rulers of the Human world had removed the rest of the planet from their maps, and left only the four continents that they had lived on, and the Lord was content to keep it that way. He had no desire to remedy relations between humans and Faunus.

The door in the back of the throne room slid open and a small man with a long rat tail ran into the room. Quickly he dropped to his knees before the lord and spoke. "My Lord! Please forgive this sudden intrusion but The Man at Arms requests your presence at once!" The small rat man was trembling as he placed his head on the floor.

The Lord turned his head to look down at the man before the woman to his side spoke. "Where does the Man at Arms think he stands in this kingdom to demand the presence of our Lord!" She demanded. She had long blue hair and a pair of rabbits ears on the top of her head. She was a short woman, standing around five feet tall, with a long blue dress and a small crown on her head. Her eyes seemed to glow a weak red as the light shined off of them.

The Lord placed his hand on the woman's shoulder and calmed her. "Relax, I'm sure that the Man at Arms has a good reason for summoning me. He's one of my oldest friends, I trust his judgment above all else." The Lord said as he walked past her to the still kneeling messenger. "Tell the Man at Arms that I shall be there soon."

The small rat nodded and sprinted off down the hall. The woman in blue huffed and turned to the lord. "Grandfather! If you continue to act nice to the help, then they'll lose respect for you!" She said as she crossed her arms and walked over to the balcony to glare down at the peasants as they went about their everyday lives.

The Lord sighed and turned to his granddaughter. "I have been trying to make you understand for many years Ella. The people of this kingdom follow me because they respect my decisions, and because they know that I have their best interests at heart. Not because they fear me, but because they trust me." The Lord said as he joined her at the ledge.

"But Grandfather! You treat these peasants the same way you treat the nobles! They exist to serve us! If we continue to let them believe that they are worth being treated with kindness by the Lord of the land, then one day they may demand more! What will you do when those same peasants whose lives you let them believe are worth the same as yours attack us and demand more than you can give!?" Ella shouted as she pointed her finger at her Grandfather.

The Lord smiled as he looked down to his people below. "I don't believe that they will rise against a just and kind ruler, but if they ever begin to demand more than we can give, or feel like they aren't being give their fair share, then I shall call upon my economic advisers to assist me. All Faunus are equal in my kingdom Ella, I may rule over the Kingdom, but my life is not worth any more than any of my civilians." He said as he watched the market place below.

The Lord smiled before turning back to Ella. "Now then, I believe that the Man at Arms had requested my presence. I bid you goodbye Granddaughter." The Lord spoke as he turned to walk down the hall.

Ella watched her Grandfather leave before looking down at the people below with disgust. Ella's eyes glowed brightly before she turned and followed her Grandfather down the hall.

The castle itself was large enough to accommodate the whole of Beacon Academy's student body within it, and still have room to move around, as such, many people who had not walked the hall before would get lost just wandering the halls. Ella had grown up in these halls, and knew all the shortcuts to take to catch her Grandfather before he reached the workshop belonging to the Man at Arms. Turning a corner she cursed her luck as she watched her Grandfather pass the guards into the workshop before the door slid shut and latched. Thinking quickly Ella climbed into the nearby air vent and crawled forward until she could see inside the massive workshop that the Man at Arms called home.

In the center of the room there was a large table with a hologram emitter, while the room itself was covered in countless computer stations, each manned by a member of the Man at Arms personal staff. Beside the large table in the center Ella could see her Grandfather talking to the Man at Arms, and with her large ears, she could hear every word.

"So old friend, you sent for me?" The Lord greeted as he walked over to the Man at Arms personal work station.

Turning to the Lord with a large smile the Man at Arms laughed. "You need to come and visit more often old friend, it is good to see you again."

The Lord smiled. "And I you. But I get the feeling that you didn't send for me, just so we could have a friendly chat."

The Man at Arms sighed. "I'm afraid not m'Lord. We've been monitoring the Human world as we were tasked, and it would appear that they are moving quickly back into a war with record speed. Just a few days ago, two of the four kingdoms attacked the other two kingdoms."

The Lord dawned a serious face before looking to the monitors. He could see the ruins of both Atlas and Vale as they fought off the attacking ships. "So the Humans can't go even one century without trying to destroy each other. What a pitiful species." The Lord said as he watched the Atlesian military fire upon the Ark as it flew past the school. "I had hoped that they would learn from the mistakes of years past but it would appear that they seemed determined to destroy themselves. Is this what you called me here fore old friend, to show me that our old foe is up to their tricks again?" The Lord asked as he turned to the Man at Arms.

"No sir. I called you here today to show you this." The Man at Arms waved his hand and caused the image to shift to the clouds, high above Remnant. The Lord watched as two massive Warships attacked each other before the larger of the two dove below the clouds, with the other in quick pursuit.

The Lord turned to the Man at Arms. "What was I just looking at Lynx?" The Lord asked as he watched the camera attempt to follow the two colossal ships.

The Man at Arms turned from the screen to look down at the data pad in his hand before reading aloud. "The Leviathan and The Nautilus. I asked our scouts in the human world what the names meant, and they came back to me with word that they were both the names of the two strongest warships in the human world, alongside the Ark, which you saw crashed in a previous photo, and the Argo, which you saw being attacked as it flew over a city." Lynx said as her turned to the Lord before him.

"And you believe that their war will affect our civilization once again?" The Lord asked as he turned back to the monitors.

"Sire, those two warships were fighting on the border of the Human world. The fight you saw took place last night, and we've been following the ships as they flew. While they seem to be enemies, both ships are heading straight towards Hell's Point. If they know that the island is an illusion, then they may be coming here to attack us."

"Impossible. The Human's would never make it to us. We've been modifying the Grimm in the surrounding seas for the last century. They'd never get past them, let along the beasts that exist in the sky's." The Lord said as he turned to the Man at Arms.

"We thought so too Sire, until our camera caught this." Lynx said as he moved the footage ahead to when the Emperor Taijitu attacked the Leviathan. The Lord could see Leo on the deck face off against the beast before the Giant Grimm moved to the other ship and attacked them. The Lord watched as the Nautilus struggled against the Emperor Taijitu for over an hour before finally killing the Grimm and giving chase to the other ship.

Lynx turned to the Lord. "They actually managed to kill an Emperor Taijitu Sire. None of our soldiers have been able to do that since the Great War. And watch how it dies." Lynx said as he zoomed in on the middle head. At the base of the head there was a blur of red and black, followed by a bright slash. Then the massive Grimm began to fall to pieces before disintegrating. "It may have been weakened from the cannons, but the fact remains that someone or something aboard that ship is capable of cutting the heads off of an Emperor Taijitu with ease, that is not something we can ignore."

The Lord watched the scene closely before sighing. "No we cannot. I want the entire kingdom on high alert. The second one of those warships comes into sight, bring it down. I'll not have the people of the Human world using their war to harm my citizens anymore." The Lord said as he turned to leave. "And Lynx!" The Lord said as he looked back over his shoulder.

The Man at Arms looked up to his old friend and replied. "Yes Sire?"

"I want you to keep the prisoners guarded closely. If those warships are coming to rescue them, then we can't afford to give even one of them back. Do I make myself clear?" The Lord asked as he moved his hand to the door.

"Yes Sire, It shall be done. I shall have the Prison double its guard and have them move the prisoners to the bottom levels." Lynx said.

"Excellent." The Lord said as he exited the workshop. Closing the door behind him the Lord sighed before turning and walking down the hall towards the armory. 'If the humans have truly come to rescue those monsters, can we really prevent them from doing so?' The Lord thought as he walked.

Farther down the hall, back by the Man at Arms workshop, Ella crawled back out of the air vents before giggling. She brought her hand to her ear before speaking into it. "Hello? Vortex? It's Ella. I have a job that's right up your alley." She said as she walked down the hall, back towards the balcony.

* * *

 **Leviathan Lounge**

Leo placed his empty glass down on the counter and starred at the three empty bottles of Johnnie Walker before him on the counter. He let out a sigh and turned to see who was left in the room. Many of it's occupants had thinned out during the night, with Oobleck being the first to leave. Shortly after, Blake and Weiss retired for the night, dragging Ruby along with them to their room. Yang had challenged Jaune to a drinking contest, and the boy had lost spectacularly, as he didn't know how to use his aura to dull the effects, and had passed out on the couch on the other side of the room, while Yang was sleeping on one of the nearby tables. The rest of JNPR had said their good nights and had left soon after Jaune passed out, with Sun and Neptune taking control of the gaming consoles by the wall.

So the room consisted of two drunk teens, each passed out on their respective sides of the room, two fully awake teens playing a video game on the TV in the corner, and one Faunus, with Aura reserves so massive, that he was only mildly buzzed from there full bottles of scotch. Leo yawned and ran his hand through his hair before rising from his place and moving into the sun by the window and laying down. Leo gave into his base's animal nature more than he cared to admit, and one of the many things he was able to derive pleasure from was sleeping in the sun.

The large Faunus was able to get a good bit of sleep in before he was awoken by a rather girly scream. Rising from his place on the floor to stretch, he saw that the sun had moved to the highest point in the sky, which meant it was mid day, so he had been able to sleep for at least a few hours. Looking to the place where the scream had come from he saw Yang crawling out from under a flipped over couch, with Jaune close behind her. A blast of electricity shot through the air past him as he moved quickly to dodge a flying table. He was still rather groggy from his nap, and managed to catch one of the legs on his shoulder.

Finally getting his bearings, Leo could see Sun, Yang and Neptune in a fighting stance as Jaune moved around the area trying to find his weapon. On the opposing side of the room was a man standing about six feet in height, with a dark cloak, and a helmet that looked like a modified motorcycle helmet. While his face and body were obscured, his weapon was in full view. In his right hand was a long whip, with metal blades running along the cable, and a thick handle with a switch on it.

The man in black raised his arm and pointed at the group of students and spoke with a deep voice that sounded absurdly fake. "You have all been targeted for termination by order of Her Royal Highness on the charge of trespassing."

Yang looked at the dark figure and shouted. "What do you mean trespassing! We're in the sky! We're not on or over any island! We- Shit!" Yang was cut off as the whip swung her direction. She rolled to the side as the blade crashed down on the spot where she had been standing before being flicked to the side and tripping Sun and Neptune. The man in black drew his blade back then dove forward to dodge Leo's fist as it came crashing down on the bar stool behind him. He lashed out with the Whip and slammed Leo to the side before landing and turning to face Yang.

Yang got right up next to the man and began to throw punch after punch in an attempt to bring the man down. Each hit missed however, as she seemed unable to catch him as he moved fluidly with ease, sliding in an out of her range. Finally having enough of her punches, The man slammed the tip of the whip down on the ground and forced the metal to link up with the others before swinging the now sword into Yang's side.

Yang flew over to the side of the room before crashing into the bar, and sliding to the floor. Sun and Neptune had gotten back to their feet and charged full force at the man. Sun swung his nunchuks rapidly as he fired a blast from each of the ends with each successive flip. This seemed, to do the trick in terms of stunning the man in black, as he clearly wasn't expecting the blunt weapon to have a gun in it. He did his best to deflect the tips of the nunchuks with each hit before noticing Neptune off to the side. Moving quickly, the man in black dropped to the floor in time for Neptune's blast to go right past him and slam into Sun, knocking the boy across the room. The man in black rolled towards Neptune and swung his sword up, causing the blades to slip apart and catch him with the Whip.

As Neptune flew back over the bar, Leo swung a bar stool under the blue haired boy and slammed it into the unsuspecting assailant. With a clang, the man flew across the room and out the door into the hall. His armor on his cloak having taken the brunt of the damage. The man in black quickly rolled away from his landing zone as Yang threw a table at him. The man in black slammed the end of his cane into the ground and swung his sword upward to block a bullet fired from Ember Celica. The man in black glanced down at the spot on his armor where he had been hit by the bar stool. Though it hadn't gotten through his armor, and although the bar stool was bent beyond repair, the hit had been hard enough to dent his chest plate.

The man in black looked back into the lounge where each of the students within had gotten their bearings and were now advancing on him. Leo was first out of the door as he clapped his hands together and brought his fists down on the spot where the man had been sitting. Pulling his fists from the now cracked floor, he found that the man was now gone. Starring confused at the missing corpse, Leo only had a moment to register before the whip wrapped itself around his neck and dragged his head into the top of the door frame.

 ***BANG! THUNK! DING!***

Leo's head was slammed repeatedly into the door frame before his body fell limp and the giant Faunus fell to his knees, then down onto his chest with a loud thud as his metal limbs hit the floor. Yang looked down at Leo for a moment before scanning the surroundings for the man in black. Once again, the man seemed to have disappeared from sight. Yang, Sun and Neptune got back to back as they each readied their respective weapons to fire when the man showed himself. Moving quickly, the man in black dashed past the group and wrapped his whip around Neptune's neck.

Yang jumped towards the man in black and punched at him, this time with her weapon firing. The man was still able to dodge around her punches, but when Yang threw both fists past each side of his head, the resulting blasts caused a loud ringing to reverberate through the air between them, causing the man in black to bring his hands to his ears to try to block out the sound. He turned back to see one of Sun's nunchuks slam into the visor of his helmet.

The man in black dropped his whip as he flew backwards from the hit. Slamming into the ground, the man in black slid across the floor until he hit the wall with the window above him. Neptune gasped as he felt the air return to his lungs as the whip went slack around his neck. Tearing the offending object from his neck, Neptune shifted his gun into its trident form and charged it with electricity. Walking over to the man in black, Neptune placed the trident under his chin before speaking.

"Your under arrest." He said as Yang and Sun moved to the sides of him. The man in black looked up to Neptune in silence before vanishing from sight right in front of them. "What?!" They said together as Neptune drew back his trident and looked up and down the halls. Suddenly Neptune's legs were kicked out from under him. He fell with a surprised yelp as he hit the floor hard, with his trident falling on him and zapping him several times. Yang and Sun turned to look back at the spot the man had been thrown to and saw him sitting there with his whip.

"How the hell?" Yang asked before she brought her gauntlets up to block the slash from the whip. Having decided that he had spent enough time fighting with the children, the man in black moved swiftly, and brought his boot into Sun's groin. Sun let out a squeal of pain as he fell to the ground with a silent thud, his hands moving to cover the affected area. Yang watched Sun crumble to the ground holding his groin before she turned to the man in black, who had vanished again. Yang brought her fists in close to her body as she took a couple of steps back, scanning the area before her. She could see Neptune on the ground, with some light smoke coming from his weapon, Sun was on the ground with tears streaming from his eyes as he tried his best to somehow relieve the pain, and Leo was lying on the floor, his face now permanently etched into the top of the door frame.

"Not easy fighting the shadows is it?" The man said from behind Yang as he thrust his sword forward. Yang spun around with surprise before taking the full force of his attack with her chest. Yang was thrown back past Sun and landed on the unconscious form of Leo. The man walked slowly towards Yang with his sword in hand, pausing only to kick Sun in the head to cease his constant moaning. Stepping past Sun the man in black walked to Yang who was crawling to her feet. Stopping several steps before her, he paused before he vanished again.

Yang looked all around before she shouted. "Fight like a man you coward!" The next thing she knew Yang felt a pain in her back as the sword was thrust straight into her back. She fell forward as her aura broke around her. She tripped over Leo's legs as she hit the floor hard.

The man in black walked over to Yang and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her knees before placing his blade at her throat. "It's a pity you all fell so easily, or I might have had a sense of satisfaction." He said as he prepared to execute Yang.

"Then maybe try fighting someone your own size!" A voice yelled as the man in black was thrown forwards by a blast from a high caliber shotgun. The man in black turned around a saw a man with dress shoes, long dark pants and a grey shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The man had a dark red cape flowing behind him with countless holes in it. On his face was a light beard, with slicked back dark hair, and a glare that would kill a Grimm.

Yang turned to the new combatant. "Uncle Qrow!" She shouted as she crawled away from the man in black. Qrow flipped his blade back into place and pointed it at the man in black.

"I don't know how you got aboard my ship, but I'm sure you'll be happy to answer that and a few other questions while your locked up in the brig." Qrow said as he walked towards the man in black. The man in black watched as Qrow approached before tightening his grip on his sword.

"Uncle Qrow, watch out! He does this weird thing where he disappears and attacks while he's invisible!" Yang shouted as the man in black vanished. Qrow shifted the blade down and fired several bursts down the hall before he heard a thud and the man in black came back into view. One of the buckshot from Qrow's gun had caught him in the chest as he attempted to hide in the shadows.

"You're not going to get away that easily kid, just give up and come with me." Qrow said as he pointed his gun at the man in black. The man in black reached into his cloak and grabbed a small pellet before throwing it at Qrow's feet. The pellet exploded at his feet and the hall filled with dark smoke. Qrow and Yang began to cough as they made their way out of the cloud. "Where the hell did he go!?" Qrow yelled as he got out of the smoke.

 ***AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!***

There was a girly scream from the lounge as Qrow and Yang turned back to the smoke. A look of horror crept onto Yang's face. "We left Jaune in the Lounge!" She yelled as she ran back into the smoke.

"Yang wait! Your aura's gone!" Qrow yelled as he followed her back into the smoke. When they burst into the Lounge they saw that Jaune had found the man in black, and was facing off against him.

"The man with the cape may be too much for me to kill right now, but I'll take your head before I return to her Highness!" The man in black said as he turned his sword into a whip. "I am Vortex! Master Assassin and Head of her Majesty's Royal task force! State your name boy!" The man in black said as he aimed his whip at Jaune.

"Uh... I-I'm Jaune Arc. Leader of Team JNPR of Beacon Academy." Jaune said as he drew Crocea Mors from it's sheath.

Vortex faltered as he gazed upon Crocea Mors Shield. "T-that can't be! The Lord destroyed that cursed blade over a hundred years ago!" Vortex yelled as he stepped back towards the bar.

Jaune looked at Vortex with confusion, then looked back down at his weapon. "You mean Crocea Mors?" Jaune asked as he raised his sword out in front of him.

"It is the cursed sword! Crocea Mors! The blade that killed a thousand Faunus! The Blade that cut off the lords arm!" Vortex said as he backed up into the wall, now trembling. "There's no way that you survived the Great War! Tell me boy, what is your title, your full title!" Vortex demanded as he got his trembling under control.

"My full title? My full name is Jaune De Arc III, named for my Great-Great Grandfather, and his father before him." Jaune said.

Vortex leveled his blade as Jaune spoke. "The third? So your not him then, but his descendant. Then I have no need to fear you. You are not the same Jaune Arc that assaulted our country all those years ago. Just some pale imitation." Vortex tightened his grip on his blade and got into a battle stance. "Then you shouldn't be hard to kill. I doubt that you have the devils luck that your ancestor had!" Vortex yelled as he threw his whip forward at Jaune.

"Jaune duck!" Qrow shouted as he watched the blade elongate as it raced towards Jaune.

Thinking quickly Jaune moved his shield up and knocked the blade away before swiping at the whip with his sword. With one quick slash he cut the cable in the sword and cut the blades clean off. As the whip drew back towards Vortex, more of the blades fell off of the cable. Vortex began to tremble as he watched his blade draw back broken, with only three blade segments left on it.

"Impossible..." Vortex said as he looked back at Jaune, who was equally surprised if not more that he severed the metal cable. A look of horror crossed Vortex's face as he turned invisible before Jaune's eyes. Moments later they heard glass break and Qrow and Yang turned to see Vortex leap out of the window. Qrow sprinted to the window and saw a small one-seater airship fly off ahead of the Leviathan.

"Who the hell was that guy?" Qrow asked as he turned to the hall with the injured students. With a sigh Qrow looked to Yang and Jaune. "You guys carry Sun and Neptune to the infirmary, I'll get Leo." He said as he placed his weapon at his back. Qrow knelt down and tried to lift Leo before realizing quickly that he was far heavier than he had originally thought. After trying and failing several more times to lift Leo, Qrow turned to look around for something to help him.

"Maybe you should take Sun." Yang said as she handed Sun to her uncle. Kneeling down, Yang lifted Leo off the ground with relative ease.

Qrow starred down at his niece with mild surprise. "Well you certainly inherited Tai's absurd strength." He said as he turned to walk down the hall with the monkey Faunus in his arms.

* * *

 **Hell's Point**

Vortex dragged himself from the crashed wreck of his ship. He had made it back to the island in record time by deactivating fail safes on his ships engines, though now the ship was close to exploding. Vortex had crashed in a field just outside the castle.

"Well? Did you kill them?" Vortex turned to look up at the person speaking to him.

"My lady! I regret to inform you that I failed to kill even one of them." Vortex said as he got to his feet and looked down at Ella.

A frustrated look crossed Ella's face as she glared up at Vortex. "What the hell's the point of you being trained to kill if you can't even kill a grunt on a ship!" She yelled.

"My lady, the ship called the Leviathan, it is carrying an elite group of soldiers, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Great War! Everyone on that ship has skills equal to that of a trained guard!" Vortex said as he reached into his cloak and pulled out his weapon. "One of them was carrying a weapon capable of doing this to my whip!"

Ella scowled at him. "Pathetic! Your a Master Assassin! You lead the Royal Task Force! How can you be so incompetent!?"

"Because those are both titles he earned by being the son of the previous owner." Ella and Vortex turned to see Lynx and the Lord walking towards them. Lynx walked over to Vortex and glared down at him. "Hello nephew. I hear that you made a trip outside the island." Lynx said as he glanced down at Vortex's weapon.

"Leaving the island without consent from the Lord is punishable by banishment Vortex, surely you know this." The Lord said as he glared down at the boy.

Vortex nodded. "Yes sir, I am well aware of the law."

The Lord turned to Ella, then back to Vortex. "But seeing as how my granddaughter was the first out here to greet you, I'd say that you not only had permission, but a task for which to carry out. Am I correct Vortex?" The Lord asked as he moved his hand into his cloak.

"Yes sire. I was to board the Leviathan, and then board the Nautilus, and kill all of the crew." Vortex said as he moved his broken blade behind his back.

"And? How did your mission go?" The Lord asked.

Vortex looked to the ground in shame. "I failed to kill even one man aboard the Leviathan sir."

The Lord looked down to Vortex with disappointment. Even if his title was hereditary, he still had a great deal of training from both his father and grandfather.

"But that's not all sir." Vortex said.

The Lord's eyebrow rose as he watched Vortex move his broken blade from behind his back. "You managed to break your whip?" The Lord asked as he moved to grab the weapon.

"It was cut by Jaune Arc." Vortex said.

The Lord's hand froze as he was reaching for the blade. Several moments passed in silence before the Lord turned to look at Vortex. "What. Did. You. Say?" Each word ground out as he focused his glare down at the boy.

"Jaune De Arc III used the cursed blade Crocea Mors to cut my whip. It was done in one swipe! Jaune Arc is on the Leviathan sir!" Vortex said, completely oblivious to the anger now rolling off of the Lord.

Lynx quickly pushed his nephew behind himself and moved in front of the Lord. "Sire, perhaps we should hurry along, you said that you wanted to visit the prison, correct?"

The Lord exhaled through his clenched teeth and turned to Vortex. "You are lying."

Vortex quickly shook his head several times. "No sire! The boy introduced himself as Jaune Arc! He had short blonde hair, armor on his chest and shoulders, and he wielded Crocea Mors! It could be no other!"

"YOUR LYING!" The Lord roared as he lifted Vortex up to his face. "THERE IS NO WAY THAT HUMAN COULD HAVE SURVIVED ALL THIS TIME!"

Vortex brought his hands to his throat where the Lord had wrapped his massive hand around it. "The Third! The Third! It's... not the same Jaune Arc, sire!" Vortex yelled as he tried to pry the large hand from his neck. "It's his descendant!"

"His descendant?" The Lord said as he released Vortex, who fell onto his ass before quickly shuffling back away from the Lord.

"Yes sire, he is the Great-Great Grandson of the man who attacked our kingdom!" Vortex said as Lynx helped him to his feet. "His full title is Jaune De Arc III, he leads a group called Team JNPR from Beacon Academy."

The Lord paused and looked up towards the false sky that was created by the illusion generator. After a moment he focused his glare ahead of him and turned to Lynx. "I have new orders for your team. The Nautilus is to be brought down when it comes into range, but the Leviathan, force them down. I want to see to it personally that the Cursed blade is destroyed!"

Lynx nodded and turned before running back towards the castle. The Lord turned back to Vortex and Ella, who were trying to slip away while the Lord was distracted with Lynx. "And where do you think your going?" The Lord asked as he grabbed Vortex by the shoulder. "As head of the Royal Task Force it is your job to escort the Lord of the kingdom when he is outside the castle."

Vortex turned to the Lord and nodded. "Yes sire. And where may I ask did you want to go today?" Vortex asked as he did his best not to glare at Ella who stuck her tongue out at him as she slipped away behind her grandfather.

The Lord straightened his back and looked off to the west of the island. "I need to stop by the prison to help move out the level 5 criminals."

A chill ran up Vortex's spine. "L-level 5 sir? Why would we move the level 5 criminals? They're already in the most secure cells in the kingdom, my father has two thousand guards watching each one of them at all times. Why would they need to move?"

The Lord turned back to Vortex. "Because Vortex, if I'm correct, and the Leviathan and Nautilus are coming here to rescue those prisoners, and if you were correct in your report that the Crocea Mors is aboard the Leviathan, than even the most secure cells wont hold those three." The Lord turned back to the west and began to walk. "You coming Vortex?" He shouted as he noticed the smaller Faunus had yet to start following him.

Jumping slightly, Vortex sprinted to the Lords side. "But sire, where will we go if not the level 5 cells? Each of the cells were specially designed to hold each of the prisoners, how can we hold them anywhere but the cells?"

The Lord shook his hand back and forth and continued to walk. "I would never endanger my citizens by letting those monsters out of their cells." The lord said as he and Vortex reached the top of the hill over looking the prison.

A confused look crossed Vortex's face. "If your not taking them out of their cells, then how are you going to move them?" Vortex asked as he and the Lord came to a stop at the highest point on the hill.

"It's simple really." The Lord said as he pressed a button on his belt. The ground began to shake violently as the field below them began to shift and contort. "I'm going to move the whole cell block." The Lord said so casually one would think he just said that he was going to prepare a meal.

"How are you going to move the whole cell block sire?" Vortex asked as he watched the level 5 cells rise to the surface in the field below.

"With these." As the Lord spoke, several large helicopters flew past them and circled over the top of the prison. One smaller helicopter landed at the top of the hill near the Lord and Vortex and a solider stepped out of it.

"Sir, the helicopters are all in position awaiting orders!" The solider shouted over the roar of the engines above him.

"Excellent, tell them to begin the transport!" The Lord shouted as he and Vortex boarded the helicopter before it took off. The Lord was standing in the open door, his remaining hand holding onto a bar beside him as they flew past the other helicopters. Vortex watched as teams of soldiers jumped from the helicopters onto the top of cell block 5 with cables in tow. Each solider attached their cable to the top of the cell block before standing and giving a thumbs up.

All at once the helicopters began to rise, the cell block following suit. The cell block itself consisted of three large cubes. The cube on the right was made of thick glass on all sides, with a figure in the center, wrapped and suspended in midair by thick chains, each chain anchored to the walls and floor by massive steaks. The cell on the left was made of heavy metal, with only three slits on the door to allow air inside. Vortex couldn't see the figure inside it, but it gave off an eerie red glow.

In the center was a simpler cell, this one having a glass wall from the right, and a metal one from the left, and bars on each other wall. What made this one special, was that in the center of the room there was a figure that had been locked to the floor by over one hundred tons of pressure on each limb. There was a dial on the cell door that allowed for the guards to alter the pressure that held the prisoner in place. On the figures head was an elaborate blindfold with heavy metal rods pressing down on the eyes constantly to prevent them from opening.

The Lord motioned for their helicopter to fly closer to the cells. As they got closer Vortex could see the figure in the glass cell shift, and the glow from the metal cell increased.

"Sire! What are we doing?" Vortex asked as they came up along side the cells, now hovering only a few yards from the cells.

 _"So, you came to visit us then eh Lucy?"_

Vortex recoiled as he heard a voice speaking behind him. Upon turning behind him he saw no one.

"You'll not find him behind you boy. I take it this is your first time seeing the level 5 criminals then, yes?" The Lord asked as he turned to look at Vortex.

Vortex nodded.

 _"Well then lets throw him a welcoming party! I'll get the balloons! What do you think Blaze? Want to party?"_ The voice said again.

 **"A party sounds like fun! There better be lots of booze though!"** A second, and much darker voice shouted. Vortex managed to follow this voice back to the metal cell beside them.

 _"Ooh! Good point Blaze, I'll ask Lucy. Hey Lucy, will there be booze at the party?"_ The voice asked.

"Who the hell is talking!?" Vortex yelled as he turned around trying to find the source of the voice.

"It's him you fool." The Lord said as he pointed at the man in chains behind the glass.

Vortex starred at the man with surprise before turning to the Lord. "But sire, it sounds like he's right beside me!"

"That's because he is speaking directly into your mind boy." The Lord said as he glared at the man behind the glass.

 _"So is that a no on the booze then?"_ The voice asked again.

The Lord scowled at the man before turning his attention to the figure in the middle cell. The man in the glass cell followed his gaze before grinning. _"Hey! Wake up! Lucy's here to see you!"_ The man shouted before turning back to the Lord. _"Honestly, we can't take her anywhere!"_

A large sweat drop formed on the back of Vortex's head as he watched the interaction between the prisoners and the Lord. 'These certainly don't seem like men who are worried about being the most heavily guarded men on the continent...'

The figure in the center cell shifted slightly before sitting forward and aiming her head towards the helicopter that the Lord was in. Her mouth and nose were visible, but she made no attempt to speak. She only stood and calmly walked to the wall. The Lord starred directly at the woman before him. She had the restrains pulling on her limbs, but they didn't seem to hinder her at all. On her neck was a scar that gave off the impression that she had lost her voice to a long done battle.

The Lord twitched slightly as he watched her reach out for the bar before the whole wall lit up with electricity. The figure slowly drew her hand back before turning and walking back to her place in the center of the room.

"Who is she?" Vortex asked as he watched her sit back down.

"She is the most deadly woman on the face of Remnant." The Lord said as he turned to look at the man in the glass cell. "Originally I had planned to move you three to a new prison, but now, after seeing that after thirteen years of being locked in these cells, none of you show any signs of dying, I have decided to have you all publicly executed. Your execution will be in one week in the grand plaza."

Vortex turned to look at the Lord before looking at the man in the glass cell. Most men or women, no matter their will power when told that they were to be put to death, would show some signs of sadness, or a sign of self preservation. Not this man. This man was smiling.

 _"But there will be booze, right? Blaze and I refuse to go if there's not booze."_ The man said as he smiled at the Lord.

The Lords face twisted with rage. "THERE WILL NOT BE ANY BOOZE FOR YOU!" He roared as he glared at the man in the glass.

 _"Then We wont go! Hey Blaze! They're gonna execute us next week!"_

 **"Sounds like fun!"**

 _"They're not gonna let us have an booze though!"_

There was a brief pause before the darker voice responded.

 **"Well then you can tell Lucy to kiss my ass. I've said it for years, when I go out, it'll be in grand fashion, and I'll be so drunk that I can't tell up from down!"** The dark voice shouted.

 _"Sorry Lucy, looks like we won't be able to make it to the execution. Be sure to have fun without us though!"_ The man in the glass said.

The Lord was twitching with rage as he motioned for the helicopter to move away from the cells.

 _ **"Bye Lucy!"**_ The voices shouted in unison as the cells got farther and farther below them.

Vortex sat quietly as he could feel the anger rolling off the Lord as the man glared out the open door. Deciding to attempt to break the tension Vortex spoke. "So sire, why did he keep calling you Lucy?"

The Lord turned to Vortex with and incredulous look before placing his face in his hand. A moment later the man spoke. "Vortex... Do you know what my real name is?"

Vortex nodded. "Yes sire, all of your people know your real name."

The lord looked up from his hand and right into Vortex's eyes. "And what is my name Vortex?"

"Your full title is Lucifer, High King of Hell's Point! Your a dragon Faunus, and your immune to any kind of fire." Vortex said as he recited the name that all children were forced to memorize in the early years of their schooling.

"Yes, so do you now see where the name Lucy come's from?" Lucifer asked.

...

...

...

Vortex thought for a few moments before looking up at the Lord. "Nope."

The Lord let out a long sigh and slumped into the chair across from Vortex. "You can't really be this stupid boy."

* * *

 **Leviathan Medical Bay**

Leo woke with a start as he sat up on the bed he was assigned to. His hands flew to his face as he pulled a cast off his eyes and was met with a blinding light from the white room. He felt a pair of hands press down on his chest and turned to see the blurred face of Professor Tyme beside him.

"Easy Leo, just rest a bit. You boys took quite the beating today." Tyme said as Leo laid back down on his bed.

"What hit me?" Leo asked as he rubbed his forehead.

"The Leviathan had an intruder. Seems like you kids in the lounge were the first ones to meet with him though. You were awful lucky that Qrow got to the lounge when he did." Tyme said as he handed Leo a glass of water.

"More like we were luck that his flask had run dry." Yang said from across the room on her bed.

Leo turned to scan the rest of the room now that his eyes had adjusted to the lights. On the bed to his right was Neptune, who was out cold with his gun sitting to his immediate right. Just past him was Sun, who had a cast on his face and on his waist.

Leo moved his other hand to his temple as he rubbed them in frustration. "So what exactly happened then?" He asked as he looked to the only other conscious combatant in the room.

Yang looked over to Leo with a blank stare. "You want the short version? Or the pathetic version?" Yang asked as she looked over at Sun.

Leo sighed. "Give me the pathetic version." He said as he turned in his bed and swung his feet over the side.

"Well, after he slammed your head into the door enough to leave a lasting impression, he knocked Neptune out with his own trident, kicked Sun in the crotch and the face, then after stabbing me several time, and causing me to trip over a certain giant Faunus." Yang said as she shot Leo a glare. "He was about to kill me when uncle Qrow showed up. Then after tricking us with a smoke bomb, he went after Jaune, who beat him and broke his weapon. The End." Yang turned to study the look on Leo's face.

He had a blank look on his face as he starred back at Yang. "I thought I asked for the long version."

Yang shook her head. "Nope, you asked for the pathetic version, there isn't a long version." Yang said as she sat forward in her bed.

Leo grunted as he got to his feet, his head throbbing from being slammed into the wall so much. "So where'd he go after he beat Jaune?" Leo asked as he walked over to Yang's bed.

"No, Jaune beat him." Yang said as Leo took a seat in the chair beside her bed.

"What?" Leo asked, extremely surprised by the news.

"I said that Jaune won." Yang said.

"Jaune won."

"Yep."

"Jaune."

"Yes."

"The same guy who was fumbling with getting his shield to open at the beginning of the fight?"

"With one blow."

"Wow." Leo said as he sat back in his chair. Leo turned and pressed a button on the wall to request some ice. Moments later a medical droid rolled in and placed an ice pack on the bed beside him. "So how'd he do it?" Leo asked as he placed the ice over his eyes.

"The guy attacked him, then demanded to know his name before he killed him. When Jaune told him his name and the name of his sword the guy seemed to get scarred. When he attacked, Jaune just knocked the whip aside with his shield and cut the cord that the blades were on." Yang said as she recalled the battle to the large man beside her bed.

Leo tilted his head towards Yang. "What's the name of his sword?"

"Crocea Mors." She said as she looked over to him.

"Crocea Mors? Hmmm..." Leo said as he placed a hand on his chin.

"The name mean something to you?" Yang asked as she studied his face.

Leo paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope. The name sounds familiar, but I don't think I've ever heard it before." Leo said as he pressed down on the ice.

"You may have heard the name from Nova, or from the General, Leo." Tyme said as he got to his feet and walked over to the large Faunus. "It was wielded by a very famous warrior from the Great War."

"Or maybe you heard Oobleck rambling on about it one day with Jaune." Yang said. "He's into all that old world stuff."

Leo scratched his chin a few times before sighing. "Maybe." Leo said as he relaxed in the chair and crossed his legs by his feet. "So whats with the named weapon thing?" Leo asked as he turned to Yang.

"What?" She asked, genuinely confused by the question.

"I mean why'd he name his weapon? Isn't that a little weird?" He asked as he crossed his arms.

"Not really, everyone names their weapons, it's just something that we always do when we go to a combat school." Yang said as she looked down at her gauntlets.

"Really? Huh, never knew." Leo said as he tilted his head back.

"Didn't you name your while you were in combat school?" Yang asked as she turned back to Leo.

"Leo never went to combat school." Tyme said as he sipped a glass of water in his hand. "He was a late admission to Atlas Academy two years ago. He's a junior at the school currently."

"Late admission? How'd that work? I thought all students were assigned teams at the beginning." Yang said as she turned to Tyme.

"Normally, that is exactly how it's done." Leo said. "But since I joined late, and with some rather... Severe, injuries, I was admitted to a reserve team. Team OPAL."

"So your not on the same team as Nova and Tyme? Not on team TLON?" Yang asked as she looked back to Leo.

"Nope. Tyme and Orion are professors at Atlas, and Nova's just an alumni who happened to be visiting the day they found you. When a ship was deployed to collect you, I agreed to go with at my leaders request." Leo said.

"Your leader? Who's that?" Yang asked.

"Penny Polendina. She said that she and your sister were good friends." Leo said.

Yang shot forward in her bed. "Penny's alive!" She shouted.

Leo shrugged. "More or less. She was being repaired last time I saw her. That fight with Pyrrha really did a number on her."

Yang turned to look down at her blanket. The last thing she saw on her scroll before she was exiled was Pyrrha killing Penny on national television. Yang quickly shook her head. "Well it's good to hear that she's okay." Yang said as she turned back to Leo. "Back to my other question though, did you really never name your weapon?"

Leo sighed and lifted the ice from his face. He turned to Yang and shook his head. "Nope never felt the need to. Why? Did you name yours?" He asked.

Yang nodded. "My gauntlets are name Ember Celica."

"My Glove is named Phantoms Grasp." Tyme said as he took a seat on the bed opposite Yang's.

"And my sister named her scythe Crescent Rose." Yang said as she looked down to Leo's arms. "Now it's your turn!" Yang said with a smile.

Leo looked down at his arms before bringing them up to eye level. "Name my arms huh? Never thought about what I'd name em." Leo said.

"Just give it a try son." Tyme said as he placed his empty glass on the bedside table.

...

...

...

Leo curled his hands into fists and looked up to Yang. "How about the Punchinator?" He asked.

Yang's face scrunched up as she shook her head. "No! That's a terrible name! Try to use your imagination!" She said, trying to be as encouraging as she could.

Leo thought for a few more minutes before grinning. He flexed both arms as he said their respective names. "Alright, how about Thunder, and Lightning!" He said as he flexed his mechanical muscles.

...

Yang burst out laughing, while Tyme covered his mouth with his sleeve to hide his smile. Leo looked at the two around him with a distressed look. "Is that not a good name?!" He asked, slightly panicked that the name he had thought hard about was not good.

Yang turned to Leo and placed a hand on his shoulder, while trying to get her laughter under control. "No, that's a perfect name!" She shouted as she fell back onto he side in laughter.

"Then why are you two laughing?" Leo asked as he looked at the two beside him.

"It was the pose my boy! The pose you struck and the look on your face while you said it! They were perfect!" Tyme said as he burst into a fit of laughter.

Leo looked around the room with confusion before finally coming to rest on Sun and Neptune who were still sleeping peacefully. Rising from his chair and placing his ice pack on the end of Yang's bed he walked over to the end of Sun's bed. "So how long were we out for?" Leo asked.

Yang covered her mouth to stifle her laughter and turned to Leo. "We, we've been i-in the infirmary for five hours!" She said in between laughs. "It's almost time for dinner, so the rest of the guys are probably back at the Lounge."

Leo watched Yang fail to speak with a blank stare before turning back to Sun. Leo closed his eyes tightly and reopened them revealing his golden slit eyes, before looking down to Sun. The black cat crest that was over his heart was glowing bright. "Your friend Blake was here not too long ago." He said as he turned to look at Yang and Tyme. He saw that his crest was still prominent over Yang's heart.

Yang looked up to Leo's face and tilted her head to the side. "Hey, whats up with your eyes?" She asked.

Leo straightened his back before blinking several times, causing his eyes to go back to normal. "What do you mean?" He asked as he turned to look back down at Yang.

Yang noticed that the gold from his eyes had vanished and focused on his features to see if anything else had changed. "They were just glowing." She said as she pointed at Leo's face. "And how did you know that Blake was here a little bit ago? You were still out cold when she left."

"I uh... Smelled her on him." Leo said as he turned to look down at the golden monkey.

"That couldn't have been hard." Yang said as she crossed her arms. "I don't know what happened between them while I was gone, but they've been linked at the hip when ever I see them now."

"Right... Well, I'm getting kind of hungry, so I'm going to go to the Lounge and get some food. You want to come with?" Leo asked as he turned to Yang and Tyme.

Yang looked to the two boys who were sleeping on their beds on the opposite side of the room, then down to her own bandage. "I suppose I could go for some food." Yang said as she climbed out of her bed and walked over to Leo's side. Yang pulled her shirt down to cover her bandages before waving goodbye to Tyme. "Give Sun and Neptune our best when they wake up!" She shouted as they walked out of sight.

* * *

 **So... The writers block cleared up. I managed to get this one out rather quickly in comparison to the other chapters as of late.**

 **...**

 **...**

 **...**

 **Ah to hell with it, I don't know what I should put down here that I didn't already try to put at the top of the chapter. Leave a review if you have any questions you want answered in the next chapter, and follow the story if you deem it worth your time to read.**


	8. The King's Invitation

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of it's characters or locations.**

 **Some of you may have noticed that as the chapter progressed, Leo's speech has improved. This is because I ran out of ideas on how to properly write this story, at the same time as purposefully make the grammar bad for a specific character. Hope this clears up any confusion as to why Leo is talking normal.**

* * *

 **Undisclosed Location Off Remnant**

Merlin walked through the portal and into a large and spacious room. Around him were dozens of doors, each with a different word above them. To his right were a set of stairs leading up towards the second level of the room, with it's own set of doors. Looking up in the center of room Merlin could see that the room continued on for what seemed like an eternity. Merlin looked down to his robes and frowned. Waving his hand Merlin rose to his full height with his staff disappearing. His robes began to transform and contort, changing into a double breasted purple suit, with his brown pants converting to match. His brown sandals shifted into black dress shoes, and his long hair and beard began to shrink before stopping, leaving him with a short beard, and neck length hair. His skin took on a younger appearance of a man in his thirties.

Merlin stretched as he felt his full power returning to him as his clothes finished transforming. His staff returned to him in the form of a cane with a gold handle. Merlin walked across the room into the hall and strode past countless paintings of great heroes from the past. At the end of the hall, Merlin walked into a large throne like room. On the wall to his right, Merlin could see a massive window that displayed an image of what appeared to be the universe. Along the wall across from him he could see several columns along with seven statues, each with a name below them. Lust, Greed, Pride, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and, Gluttony.

To his left Merlin saw a massive throne, with a giant sitting upon it. The man on the throne was easily fifty feet tall, dwarfing even Leo in height, with an appearance similar to that of Merlin when he is on Remnant. Slight differences could be seen between the two though, as the giant man was noticeably more wrinkled, and seemed to have little to no muscle on his bones. To the left of the giant man was a large staff that one could easily mistake for an uprooted tree, with a large eagle sitting on top of it. Walking farther into the room, Merlin strode up to the throne before bowing. The giant man looked down at Merlin for a moment before speaking.

"Welcome home Number 6." The mans voice, though loud, carried with it a feeling of calm as it reverberated throughout the room. It was a deep and monotone voice that made him sound uninterested when he spoke.

Rising to his feet, Merlin looked up to the giant and spoke back. "It is good to be home father. Any changes since I was last here?"

The giant scoffed and turned to the eagle. "The boy is gone for a thousand years and asks if anything happened while he was gone." The giants voice had a tone of sarcasm to it as the eagle screeched in return. The giant turned back to Merlin and began to talk. "Yes, a great deal has happened while you were away." The giant turned and pointed to four doors similar to that which Merlin had entered the building from. "I added three more universes to the blacklist." Each of the doors was covered in locks and runes meant to prevent anything from opening them from either side. There were names above these doors as well.

Merlin looked to the doors and read aloud. "Reality, DC, Marvel, Transformers." Merlin turned back to the giant with a confused stare. "I understand Reality, it was on the blacklist since it was created, but why the other three?" Merlin asked.

The giant man shifted in his chair before looking to the doors. "DC, Marvel and, Transformers have all begun to develop a condition that I've come to call, 'The Multiverse Condition.' They have all started to evolve beyond their own boundaries, in doing so they have begun to threaten all of the other universes around them." The Blacklist was comprised of five universes, each of them were deemed to dangerous for travel, so they were locked away, allowing for only the All Father to traverse them and return to the building.

"Multiverse Condition? How can that be possible?" Merlin asked as he walked to the door with the Transformers label above it.

"Reality has gone back to work in recent years, with the desire to delete everything and begin again. DC had the most drastic change, in Reality they called it an 'Infinity Crisis.'" The giant said as he reached for his staff, causing the eagle to jump off the staff and on to the back of the throne. "But enough about the state of the other universes, I have been watching you rather closely Number 6, it takes a great deal of time for one of my clones to get their universe noticed by Reality, and it takes even more for it to become popular there."

Merlin nodded. "That is true Father. Remnant was a special case."

"I am aware. I created that universe to be a dumping zone for other universes that had dropped from the public eye in Reality. I'm thoroughly impressed that you managed to make it into what it now is." Father stated as he looked down at Merlin.

"I merely planted a seed. I found a man in Reality who could make Remnant into what it is, I simply sat back and allowed for the rest to play out in due time." Merlin said as he reached into the pocket on his right breast.

Father looked out the window on the far side of the room. "Monty Oum. He was a good man."

Merlin stopped and looked up to Father. "You speak of Monty in the past tense?" He asked as he found what he was looking for and dragged out a wooden pipe.

Father looked down at Merlin with a sad look in his eyes. "I often feel pity that I am the only one who can see what happens in Reality. Yes my son, I regret to inform you that Monty Oum passed away a little more than a year ago. Many fans of his work with Remnant mourned his loss."

Merlin looked to his feet with a deep frown. "Then I have failed. With the passing of Monty Oum there is no one in Reality that I can convey the vision of Remnant to."

Father waved his hand a few times before speaking. "Fear not my son. Your universe lives on, as Monty's legacy is survived through the very people he worked with, 'Rooster Teeth.'"

"Rooster teeth?" Merlin asked with a blank look on his face.

"Indeed."

"What an absurd name. Roosters don't have teeth! I don't know of any universe that has a rooster with teeth!" Merlin said as he pulled a matchbook out of his pocket.

Father gave an amused look to Merlin before speaking again. "Yes well, rooster anatomy aside, why don't you tell me about what your doing in your universe." Father said as he sat back in his chair.

Merlin lit a match and held it to the end of his pipe before looking up to Father. "Why tell you about the world, you can see everything that has, is and, will happen in Remnant." Merlin said as he took a deep breath and blew smoke out before him.

Father smiled. "That is where you are wrong my son. You are not the original Number 6. You were created as an alternate universe when Monty Oum began to expand upon your universe. The original Number 6 is still sitting in his cottage, patiently waiting until he is found by those in Monty's universe, RWBY."

Merlin let out another breath of smoke before looking to Father. "So team RWBY is going to find him? Interesting. I had assumed that it would be JNPR and Leo to find me first."

Father tilted his head to the side. "Leo? Who is Leo? RWBY is the name Monty gave to the universe when he "Created it" in Reality. Back in the room you came from, just a few floors up you will find a locked door with the name, 'RWBY', above it. In cases like yours, I lock the original door and allow for the universe to run it's course before I let the clone return." Father said as he looked toward the window. "Some drastic changes are happening in RWBY right now."

Merlin removed his pipe and looked towards the window that Father always starred at, seeing only stars. "So Monty chose to name the universe after a group of people, rather than the world it is based on. Interesting." Merlin turned back to Father and spoke. "How is it that you do not know Leo? His father alone should warrant your attention, not accounting for the rather precarious situation he is in with his body."

Father sighed and turned back to Merlin. "As I have said Number 6, I can only see what happens in the original universe. You are an anomaly, created the very first time that Monty made a decision that went against what you had planned for the universe. For you, that was immediate, as he changed the name." Father stood from his chair, balancing himself on his cane before walking to the window on the other side of the room.

Merlin walked to the window and stood beside Father, barely standing taller than Father's ankle. "The way you talk about him, it would seem that Leo doesn't exist in Monty's world. I wonder what reason Monty had for leaving Leo out of his universe." Merlin placed his pipe back into his mouth and took a deep breath.

"How about you tell me about your universe over some tea." Father said as a tray carrying a massive cup moved towards him. Father grabbed the cup from the tray and turned to walk back to his throne. Merlin turned and waved his hand, causing a cup of tea to appear in his hand and followed Father back to his throne. As the two men drank, Merlin told the tale of his universe to Father.

As the tale came to and end, Father waved his hand and caused the cup of tea in his hand to vanish. Father turned to look at Merlin with a smile. "I am always happy when the Anomaly's come to visit. I can see everything that has, and will ever happen in most universes, so I always welcome a new tale that may give me some excitement." Father placed his staff at his side once again, causing the eagle to leap back onto the top and screech at him. Father turned to look down at Merlin with a more serious look on his face. "However, despite how much I may enjoy the story, the creation of an anomaly always allows for Morgana to find a way back into Reality without my noticing in time. Tell me my son, have you seen any signs of Morganna in your universe?" Father asked.

Merlin exhaled some smoke as he made his own cup of tea vanish. "Salem. An ancient witch that plagued Remnant many centuries ago. I sensed the influence of Morganna in her, so I created a King that sealed her in a hole in reality. She can never escape." Merlin said as he tapped the side of his pipe.

Father leaned down towards Merlin and looked him right in the eyes. "Very well Number 6. Just remember, Evil has a way of proving that the word 'Never', doesn't apply to them."

Merlin could see the seriousness in his eyes as he starred down at him. He nodded and turned to a large painting on the wall beside the throne. It was a painting of Father in his early years in Reality. He looked relatively the same as Merlin did at the moment, but he lacked the scar that now adorns the left side of his face. At his side were two people, both were as well known to Merlin and his brothers as Father himself. To his left was a woman in a red dress, with black sleeves and black feathers on the collar. She had a dark oak wood staff with a red gem at the top and a raven on her arm. She had long flowing black hair, similar to that of Raven Branwen, and had bright brown eyes.

To his right was a young boy with brown hair and a large great sword on his back. This blade was the legendary sword Excalibur, the sword that when drawn from the stone would give the wielder the right to rule all of England. The boy had light armor on and bore a striking resemblance to Jaune. The woman was Morgan Le Fay, Fathers apprentice and later wife, and the boy was named Arthur, king of England. Father had cherished these times greatly as he and Morgan Le Fay traveled the ancient lands of England with Arthur as he gathered the allies that would help him as he ruled from his castle of Camelot.

Sadly, these times were not to last. Many years after Arthur had become king, Morgan Le Fay betrayed Father, and attacked him and Arthur. Though Father managed to block her first attack, Arthur had not been so lucky, and suffered a fatal wound. Morgan Le Fay declared her self to be Morganna and began to drain the power from Father. Had it not been for the intervention of the child conceived years before by Father and Morgan Le Fay, a man whose name is known only by himself and Father, Father would have been killed by Morganna. The man known only as Number 0 trapped Morganna in a spell prison just long enough for Father to open a portal to Hell beneath her. As Morganna was dragged into Hell, she declared that she would return to take the powers that Father had kept from her.

Father followed Merlin's gaze and sighed. "I suppose that I have kept you long enough. You may return to Remnant whenever you wish." Father said as he waved his hand dismissing Merlin.

Merlin bowed and turned to leave the room. As he reached the door he bumped into another man that looked just like himself. The man looked at him with a grin. "Well if it isn't big brother 6! How have you been?" The man asked as Merlin looked back at him.

"Yes, hello 12. I am doing well." Merlin said as he looked at the other clone of Father that he had encountered.

12 looked at him then past him to Father. "Look, I'd love to talk to you more, but I've got big news to tell Father. I finished my universe!" 12 said with a good deal of excitement in his voice.

"That's wonderful 12. I'm sure that Father will be very pleased to hear." Merlin said as 12 walked past him towards Father. Merlin saw the clone begin to tell Father about what had happened and turned to continue on back to his own world. As Merlin entered the room he scanned the room for the other open door that 12 had come from. Spying the door on the third floor, he read the name above the door.

"One Piece?" Merlin said to himself as he walked back towards his own door. "Wonder what that universe was name for."

* * *

 **Leviathan Combat Arena**

Yang leapt over Pyrrha's shield as it sailed under her. Not one to miss an opportunity, Pyrrha redirected her shield at Leo who had his back turned to her fighting Nora and Ruby. The shield hit him in the back of the head, causing the large man to stagger and creating an opening for Nora. As Tyme had found time to fix Magnhild, Nora was eager to test the newly repaired hammer. Swinging Magnhild upwards, she slammed the blunt end of the hammer into Leo's face, throwing him back into Yang. Both of them crashed into the far wall and crumbled to the floor in a heap.

"How the hell did you talk me into this?!" Leo shouted as he got back to his feet to face down teams JNPR and RWBY, minus Yang.

Yang got back to her feet and cocked her gauntlet back. "Don't tell me your not loving this!" Yang shouted as she dove into Blake.

"I'm not!" Leo shouted back as he grabbed Crocea Mors as Jaune swung it and threw Jaune into Ren. "I simply asked if you wanted some lunch! I was hungry!" Leo shouted as he raised his arms to block the bullets fired from Crescent Rose. "And I still never got my food!"

Yang leapt over Blake and grabbed her by the chin as she passed overhead. Landing on her feet she threw Blake towards Weiss. "Relax! Like this is in any way my fault!" Yang shouted as she fired off a few shots at Pyrrha. The room around her shouted that it was entirely her fault, but Yang paid them no mind. "Besides, the food will taste even better after we defeat these guys!" Yang yelled as she blocked a slash from Ruby.

"Why are we even fighting them!?" Leo yelled as he was hit by a grenade.

"Personal reasons!" Yang shouted back.

Leo shifted his left arm into its gun form and grabbed Nora by the throat with his right hand. He turned and fired several rounds at Ruby to get her off of Yang while he pinned Nora to the wall. "As soon as we get back to the Lounge, your going to tell me these, "Personal Reasons!" Because I'm not good with beating up random kids just because someone drags me into their fight!" As he finished talking he turned back to see that Nora had escaped his pin and was bringing Magnhild around to hit him.

He didn't move fast enough to block and was again knocked across the field by Nora's hammer. "Who's beating up who!?" She yelled as she flipped her hammer down into its grenade launcher and began to fire at Yang. The grenades exploded around her, causing a thick pink smoke screen.

"Every one stand clear of the smoke!" Jaune yelled as he and Ren got back to their feet. The two teams pulled together into a defensive stance with their range weapons focused on the smoke. Jaune looked down to Ruby and whispered to her. "When I say so, use your semblance to clear the smoke." Ruby nodded and looked towards the fog as Jaune raised his sword into the air and turned to the rest of the group. "When Ruby clears the smoke, open fire on Yang."

There was a light laughing coming from the smoke as the group looked on. "You guys still haven't learned anything about fighting Grimm." There was a loud crunch to the left of the group, followed by a low whistling. Jaune thrust his sword forward, failing to notice the attack from the flank. Ruby burst forward, her speed causing a vortex that dragged away the smoke. Yang brought her arms up to block the wind as she watched the group.

Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake dove forward, dodging the large pipe that Leo had torn from the ground. The rest of the group wasn't so lucky. Jaune, Ren and Nora were hit by the pipe and sent tumbling forward, Nora slamming into Blake as she fell. Jaune slid forward before coming to a stop directly in front of Yang. Yang looked down to him with a malicious grin. She placed her foot on his chest as she cocked her right gauntlet back. Yang turned to look at Ruby while she pointed her gauntlet at Jaune's face.

"Where there's one Grimm..." Yang said as Ember Celica discharged, slamming Jaune's head into the ground and knocking in into unconsciousness. "There are always more close by." She finished as she walked past Jaune. Blake and Nora bean to get to their feet before each of them had a large metal hand wrap around their heads. The two were quickly brought back together as Leo slammed them into each other, knocking both girls out. Yang turned to look at him with a frown. "I wasn't done with those two yet."

Leo growled in frustration before grabbing the pipe he had swung at the group. "I said that I was hungry. I am still very hungry, and I didn't plan on being thrown into the arena today, but since I was..." Leo said before turning to Ruby. "You can be damn sure I'm going to be serious about it." Leo swung the pipe at the small girl, who dodged the slow attack with ease. Leo tried to turn back to swing again, but he felt himself stop before his arms were spread apart.

Yang turned to Pyrrha with a glare. "You said you wouldn't use your semblance against him because of his implants."

Pyrrha turned to Yang and frowned. "I still don't know what cause you to behave like this, but if he's getting serious, then so shall I." Pyrrha moved her hand to the side and threw Leo towards Yang.

Yang moved out of the way of the massive projectile, only to be met with a blade as Ren slammed her into the ground. He placed his foot on her gut and began to unload both of his pistols into her face and upper body. After a moment a clicking could be heard that signified both guns had run dry. Ren pulled his pistols back and looked down at Yang who was covering her face with her arms. What Ren failed to notice was that the area around him was beginning to heat up.

Yang shifted her arms down slightly to glare up at Ren, her eyes flashing a blazing red. "If you want to get serious, then I will be happy to show you what happens when I am actually trying."

From the stands, Qrow and Orion watched the fight, seeing Yang throw Ren off of her before diving into Weiss. "Your niece doesn't seem to pick the correct opponents Qrow." Orion said as he watched Ruby attempt to assist her partner.

Qrow watched the fight with a dull stare. "I don't know why Oz insisted that I bring them along. Save for Yang and Pyrrha, none of them are even close to being ready to fight the monsters out here."

Orion turned to Qrow with a raised eyebrow. "What makes Yang and Pyrrha special?" He asked.

Qrow pointed down to Pyrrha, who was tossing Leo around the arena in an attempt to either hit Yang, or to drain his aura faster. "Pyrrha has been trained since she was very young, and became a champion before she even entered beacon academy." Then he moved his gaze to Yang, who was tossing Weiss around like she was made of paper. "And Yang, she has already spent close to half a year out in the real world. While she may not have spent that time in true remnant, she does know how to combat Grimm effectively in order to survive."

Orion turned back to the fight with a nod. "She does seem to go straight for a killing blow when she fights seriously." He turned to Leo who had just been thrown down with enough force to crack the floor. "Yet it would seem that Leo has chosen the worst possible opponent that he could face."

Qrow turned to look down at Leo with a frown. "I've got more that a few questions about that boy, but I'll lead with why he's here."

Orion looked back to Qrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean why is he on this ship. I know that there's no team TLON, I make it my business to know about all of the active hunter teams in the four kingdoms, and I've never heard of TLON. So who is he?" Qrow asked turning to face Orion with his arms crossed.

Orion turned back to the fight with a stern look on his face. "That's classified information."

Qrow's face adopted an annoyed glare as he watched Orion. "Atlas sent two of it's most trusted professors, a specialist, and the eldest sister of the Arc family who is also a graduate of Atlas Academy."

Orion glanced towards Qrow. "Whats your point." He asked.

"My point is, Atlas has sent some very important people along on this voyage, and I have a feeling that it's not just so that they can have a higher chance of their kingdom controlling the weapon were trying to find. There's also the fact that Nova has said several times that she will take away Leo's arms if she decides to." Qrow was now looking at Orion with a full glare. "It is clear to me that Leo is something Atlas wants on a short leash. Now tell me who he is."

Orion turned towards Qrow and crossed his arms. "Who Leo is, and why he is on this ship is classified. Now drop it." Orion said with a glare.

"It's okay Orion, you can tell Qrow about Leo." Qrow and Orion both turned to the new voice as Winter walked through the door to the side.

"Pardon?" Orion said as he turned to face Winter.

"I said that you can tell Qrow about Leo." She said as she walked to the ledge in time to see Weiss get slammed face first into the floor.

"Miss Schnee, may I remind you that all information about Project: Hunter is highly classified! To tell anyone, let alone someone from a rival kingdom would be an act of treason!" Orion stated as he slammed the end of his staff into the floor.

Qrow turned to Orion with a frown. "Rival kingdom? And here I thought that Atlas and Vale were on good terms. The way you talk it's as it Atlas considers Vale to be an enemy."

Orion turned back to Qrow with an angry look on his face. "If you are not a citizen of Atlas then giving you any information would be treason!" He shouted.

"If your not going to tell him than I will." Winter said with a frown as she watched her sisters aura drop into the red.

Orion spun around to face Winter. "You don't have the authority to reveal that information!" He shouted as he pointed his staff at Winter.

She turned and held out a badge. "See this? This is my authority." The badge was that of an Atlas specialist, at first glance it looked the same as a normal Major's cluster on a pallet of silver, if one looked closer though, they would see the red thorns that encircled the cluster, along with the small black cross at the top. "I worked closely with Professor Polendina on this project, and have full authority to release information about it to anyone I deem worthy of that knowledge." She said as she glared back at Orion.

Orion closed his mouth, and settled for giving Winter a low glare. "Your done now? Good." Winter turned to face Qrow. "So what did you want to know?" She asked.

Qrow glanced down at Leo, who at the moment was struggling against Pyrrha, who was holding him in place for Ruby. "Who is he?" Qrow asked.

Winter glanced down to Leo, then back to Qrow. "Leo Thorne is the eldest child and only son of a farm couple from southern Atlas. The mother was a spokes person for the original White Fang, and the granddaughter of one of the founders. While we do not know exactly what events transpired at his home, what we do know is that Adam Taurus was the one who attacked him and killed the rest of his family." Winter finished and turned to watch Yang throw Ren into Pyrrha, freeing Leo from the amazonian's hold.

Qrow watched Yang begin to fight Pyrrha as Leo tried to catch Ruby. "So now I have a brief overview of his history. Now why don't you tell me about his arms, and why Nova seems to have a hold over him." He said as he turned back to Winter.

"Nova is a First Lieutenant in the Atlesian military, and she was one of the guards placed on the scientists of Project: Hunter." Winter said while she frowned. "I don't particularly like her."

Qrow laughed lightly as he watched Pyrrha counter Yang and throw her to the side. "Seems that sentiment is shared by most of the people aboard this ship. Next question, whats 'Project: Hunter?'" He asked.

"Project: Hunter, was the Atlesian military's first attempt at making a robot that can generate an artificial soul." Winter said.

Qrow watched as Ruby danced around Leo, who was having trouble catching the small speed demon. "How does Leo factor into Project: Hunter? Don't tell me that Leo is actually a robot." Qrow asked as he turned back to Winter.

Winter shook her head. "No. Leo is a member of team OPAL. He is both the only male, and the only organic member of the team."

"Team OPAL? Never heard of them either." Qrow said, turning to Winter.

"I would be shocked if you had. Team OPAL has never had an assignment. They are comprised entirely of androids, and Leo. You've seen the leader of team OPAL at the Vytal Festival, Penny Polendina. The other members are O.P.A.L., the first prototype for miss Polendina, and Avery Brown, the model created in the wake of Penny's defeat at the Vytal Festival. Avery was created by Dr. Brown to be better than Dr. Polendina's android. While the General refused to allow the two robots to fight to decide which was stronger, he did allow for Avery to be placed on the same team as Penny." Winter said as Yang put Pyrrha in a headlock.

Yang's eyes were glowing red as she placed one hand on Pyrrha chin and the other on her cheek. Her glare intensified as Qrow looked on. Quickly realizing what his niece was about to do, Qrow pulled out his gun and shot at Yang. "YANG STOP NOW!" Qrow shouted as the buckshot threw Yang off of Pyrrha. Qrow leapt down into the ring, causing the other fighters to freeze and look over to him.

Qrow walked over to Yang and dragged her to her feet and placed her before him. "We're going to have a long talk about your attempt a moment ago to use lethal force on an ally. In the mean time." Qrow said as he looked to Pyrrha, Leo and Ruby. "Wake up your friends and go get something to eat."

Pyrrha placed her hand on her neck before looking to Yang in shock. "Y-you were going to kill me..." She said.

Yang turned to Pyrrha with a calm stare. "You wanted to get serious. When you fight outside of a tournament you don't have a ref to call off your enemy. See that gun by your feet?" Yang asked, causing Pyrrha to look at her spear that was sitting by her feet. "When you draw your weapon, you better be prepared to kill." Yang said as the glow in her eyes faded back to the base red before turning and walking with Leo out of the arena.

Qrow watched Yang leave the arena, followed by Ruby who was helping Weiss and Blake along side her. "What the hell happened to you out there Yang?" Qrow asked to nobody in particular. He turned back to see Ren helping Nora to her feet and saw Pyrrha on her knees with one hand on her spear, and the other on her throat. He walked over to her and knelt down before placing a hand on her shoulder.

Pyrrha looked up to him with a look of shock on her face. "Why would she try to kill me? I thought that we were friends." Pyrrha said as she looked up to Qrow.

He sighed and shook his head. "No, your not, at least not any more."

"But why? What could we have done to cause this much hatred?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yang feels like you guys betrayed her. Five months ago when she was banished, everyone was at the arena watching your fight. No one from her team, or from yours showed up to speak on her behalf at the trial. Her father was trying to get there in time, and I was busy with guarding the maiden for your transfer, so we both missed the trial as well." Qrow said as he handed Pyrrha her shield.

Pyrrha looked to Qrow with a look of sadness. "But I was unaware that she was on trial! I was busy with the tournament, and didn't find out that she had been exiled until after we stopped Cinder's plan!" She said as she placed her shield on her back. "What happened to her while she was gone?!" She asked.

Qrow sighed. "I'm not sure." He said as he turned to Jaune, who was sprawled out on the floor. "What I do know is that she learned a lesson out there that most hunters don't learn until having been out of the academies for a few years." Qrow stood and walked over to Jaune.

Pyrrha got to her feet and walked over to Jaune. "What lesson did she learn?" She asked as she began trying to wake the blonde by her feet.

"You're not gonna wake him." Qrow said as he picked Jaune up and threw him over his shoulder. "For a kid with such large aura reserves, he really isn't good at shielding himself is he?" Qrow turned to look down at Pyrrha. "The lesson she learned is that everything in this world is out to get you."

Pyrrha tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

Qrow looked down at her with a sympathetic face. "I envy you kids you know. Ruby's dream is to be one of the huntress's from the books that Taiyang and I used to read to her when she was little." Qrow said as he looked to the destroyed arena. "She thinks that she can graduate and just go out and be a hero to the people of the kingdoms." Qrow sighed as he shifted Jaune on his shoulder. "If only life was really that black and white."

Qrow turned and began to walk out of the arena with Jaune on his shoulder, and Pyrrha at his side. "What do you mean by black and white?" She asked.

"In all the old stories, there's the hero clad in shining armor, and the evil monster. In real life, sometimes the big scary monster is the one that need the help, and the one that's wearing the armor and symbol you can trust is the one you need to defeat." Qrow said as he pushed the door to the arena open. "The only absolute evil in this world are the Grimm. Beyond that it's up to interpretation. We view Cinder as evil, the White Fang view Humanity as evil. In the end it all comes down to who wins in the end."

"But Cinder and the White Fang are hurting Humans and Faunus alike, doesn't that make them evil?" Pyrrha asked.

Qrow sighed. "Cinder is evil, that much I'm sure of, but the White Fang are another story. They started out with good intentions, so it's more like a small part of them is evil, and it's controlling the rest." Qrow said as he kicked the door to the arena closed and continued down the hall to the infirmary.

"Then why don't they just leave the White Fang if they're not the evil ones?" She asked as she moved to his side.

"That could be one of many reasons. Charisma, money, fun. For most it's probably fear that keeps them in line." Qrow said.

"Fear?" She asked.

"Yeah, fear. Ever heard of a guy named Tukson?" Qrow asked, but Pyrrha shook her head. "He was an informant for me in the White Fang. For a few years he would send me intel on their movements through out Vale and the other kingdoms. Eventually he wanted out, so I forged him some papers and we were all set to move him out of Vale."

Pyrrha titled her head to the side. "What happened then? Where is he now?" She asked.

"Six feet under in Vale National Cemetery." Qrow said. "The White Fang found out that he was leaving, and decided to tie up some loose ends. They sent someone to kill him, and they succeeded. He was killed a few days before the Breach." Qrow turned the corner and arrived at the infirmary. He sighed. "We haven't even been on this journey for more than a week, and already this room has been used twice. Oz would be real disappointed."

He walked into the room and placed Jaune on the bed next to Sun that Leo had used a few hours prior. Pyrrha took the seat next to him and thanked Qrow. Walking out the door, Qrow noticed Winter was waiting in the hall.

"We never did finish our talk." She said.

"Kind of hard to focus on a conversation when your niece is about to commit a murder." Qrow said dryly.

"Yes, well... I may as well finish telling you about Leo." Winter said as she walked past him. Qrow turned to follow as they walked towards the Lounge in silence.

After a few moments, it was Qrow that finally spoke. "You know, when you say your gonna tell some one something, then walk past them in silence, it kind of sends some mixed signals." He said with a frown.

Winter turned the corner into the lounge and saw the rest of team RWBY and JNPR sitting at the tables. Leo was sitting at the bar with a bottle of whiskey in front of him, with Yang sitting beside him. Ruby saw the two enter the lounge and waved to them. Qrow waved back and followed Winter to a booth at the back by the window looking out at the clouds and the night sky.

Winter slid into the booth and turned to Qrow. "Are you going to have a seat?" She asked.

Qrow grunted before sliding into the seat opposite Winter and turning to face her. "So, what else can you tell me about Leo?"

Winter finished ordering a drink from the virtual menu at the side of the table and turned to Qrow. "What would you like to know?"

Qrow pointed to Leo who was sitting at the bar eating a burger with a bottle of whiskey beside it. "Let's start with his age, and why he drinks so much."

"Pot calling the kettle black?" Winter said, poking fun at Qrow's own drinking habits. The look on his face told her he wasn't amused, so she continued. "Leo was brought to an Atlesian military base two years ago. He had been found by a patrol that was visiting the local farms, and was rushed to the base for medical attention. When he arrived he was missing both arms and a good chunk of his rib cage." Winter paused to take her drink from the robot that walked up to her.

After taking a drink she continued. "His injuries were some of the worst we've ever seen, to the point that the doctors that worked on him said that he wasn't going to make it through the night." Winter turned to look at Leo who had now begun to drink straight from the bottle, much to the annoyance of Yang. "It was doctor Polendina that finally managed to save him. He used the schematics for the Atlesian Paladin to construct a false heart and lugs to replace the ones that had been damaged."

Qrow heard a crash and turned to see that Yang had tackled Leo in an attempt to get to the whiskey, while he was telling her to order her own.

"Leo had survived, and when he woke the next morning he was restrained and questioned. While at the time he wasn't entirely cooperative, we did manage to learn that his family had been killed for going against the White Fang. Adam Taurus had lead a small team to destroy the farm, and had succeeded in killing Leo's father, and his four younger sisters."

"What about his mother?" Qrow asked.

"As far as we know, she is still a member of the White Fang." Winter said as she placed her hands on the table.

"Alright, so I know how he got his arms, what about the alcohol?" Qrow said as he watched Leo hold Yang at arms length and chug the rest of the bottle.

"Leo was born with very high levels of aura. The augmentations that Dr. Polendina gave to his body multiply that aura reserve tenfold. What he lacks in skill and combat experience, he more than makes up for in endurance. As you may know, if one so chooses, they can dull or nullify the affects of alcohol on the body to a certain degree. Leo was old enough to drink when he was brought on the base, so to calm his nerves, some of the soldiers brought him a beer every so often. It helped dull the pain from his wounds, and took his mind off his family."

"Drinking to dull the pain of something lost. I know the feeling well." Qrow said as he took a drink from his flask.

"I know, I read your file." Winter said. "While all of team STRQ was hurt when Summer Rose died, you seemed to take it the worst."

Qrow turned to Winter with a sad stare. "They never found her body. She could still be out there for all we know."

Winter watched Qrow take another drink from his flask before she continued. "Before the incident in the arena, you asked how Leo factors into Project: Hunter. Leo was saved by Dr. Polendina, and begged to enroll in Atlas academy so he could train. Initially, the school completely denied his request, for whatever reason though, when the General saw his file he accepted him immediately."

"Takes a-lot for Jimmy to go against the school. Leo must have really been something." Qrow mused as he turned the empty flask over with a frown.

"Yes, 'The General' did seem interested in him. As soon as Dr. Polendina returned, he and Leo began to work on Project: Hunter. Using Osiris as the base, Dr. Polendina created his daughter Penny, and continued to Upgrade Leo as he went. When it finally came time to enroll Penny in the academy, they needed a cover, so they took Leo, Osiris, and Avery and made team OPAL." Winter said.

"I thought you said that Avery was created after the Vytal festival." Qrow said.

"She was. Or to put it a better way, she was finished after the festival. She had been close to done when the festival rolled around, and was going to be a part of Penny's team in the tournament." She said.

"So what happened?" Qrow asked.

Winter shrugged he shoulders. "No one's really sure. Osiris and Penny were working fine, but Avery was having power issues, and Leo's arms had been acting up. In the end, Penny and Osiris went, and they competed with two subs." She said as she glanced to the side and saw Leo collecting another bottle from the waiter.

"So where do you factor into all of this? You said that you worked with Dr. Polendina on the project." Qrow said as he reclined in his seat.

Winter placed her drink down on the table and turned to Qrow. "Yes, I was one of the heads of Project: Hunter. While Dr. Polendina and the other scientists gave the androids their intelligence and motor skills, my team was in charge of training the androids, and by extension Leo." She said as she pulled out her scroll. "Nova was the head of the security team, and when Leo asked permission to go find Yang, the school assigned Nova to watch over him. She believes that she has more authority than she actually does."

"What about Tyme and Orion?" Qrow asked.

"Tyme went along so that he could meet with Ozpin, Orion went along as extra security." She said as she scrolled through the device in her hand.

"Orion went along as security?"

Winter nodded. "Leo's arms are very dangerous. Orion is along to make certain that Leo doesn't misuse them. You saw earlier when Leo and Yang were fighting the others, Leo never used his arms main function, nor his semblance."

"He has a semblance? I thought that you said that he was untrained." Qrow said as he watched her scroll through her scroll faster and faster.

"He had a semblance when he was brought in. From what we can tell, it was awakened from extreme trauma. It would seem that watching his family be slaughtered before him caused his semblance to unlock. It works like an upgrade to his voice, he can send out echo pulses to scan the surroundings and navigate. At the same time it can be concentrated into a very powerful sonic cannon that he releases from his mouth." She said as she turned the scroll to the side.

"Having trouble?" Qrow asked.

"I can't seem to contact Beacon or Atlas. I wanted to inform the General of our progress." She said as she looked up from her scroll.

"What progress? We've only been attacked left and right since we entered True Remnant. First the flock of Grimm, then the Nautilus, and then we were almost eaten by the Emperor Taijitu. Besides, the CCT doesn't reach out into True Remnant very far, we're probably just out of range." Qrow said while he looked down at his scroll.

The door to the lounge slid open to reveal Pyrrha, Sun, Neptune and Jaune. Sun still seemed to be walking with a slight limp, but none the less they all walked over the the bar where Leo and Yang were sitting. Leo didn't even acknowledge their presence, instead choosing to focus his attention on the burger before him.

Yang turned to face the four with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?" She asked with a bored look on her face.

The four looked to one and another before back to Yang. Suddenly the four dropped to their knee's and bowed their heads. "We are very sorry for failing to help you when you were exiled" They said in unison. Yang looked down to the four with surprise as Leo turned his head with a look of confusion on his face. The rest of the room took notice of the display with looks of equal surprise.

Yang shook her head and stared down at the group who were still on their knee's. She sighed and spoke. "Alright, it's a start." She said causing them all to raise their heads to look at her. "At least someone finally apologized and meant it. I almost broke the councilman's nose when he apologized for exiling me, the stuck up bastard." She mumbled, then looked to Pyrrha and sighed again. "And I guess I'm sorry for almost killing you earlier."

Pyrrha smiled and got to her feet and pulled Yang into a hug. "Hey! Hey! Hey! I didn't say we were back to the hugging stage!" She said, struggling to break the amazonian's grip while Jaune smiled.

The robotic voice of the Captain came on over the intercom. "Fleet Admiral to the Bridge at once! I repeat, Fleet Admiral to the Bridge at once!" Everyone turned to look at the speaker for a moment before Leo sighed and grabbed the half full bottle of whiskey and took off down the hall.

Qrow got up and ran after him, knowing that despite Leo having the title, the situation would call for Qrow's presence. The rest of the lounge looked to one and another before they took off after him.

* * *

 **Leviathan Bridge**

Leo and Qrow arrived at the Bridge to see it in relative chaos. The numerous robots that were manning the computers were scrambling around the room hitting switches and exchanging papers. Leo looked to them with confusion before turning to Qrow. "Whats the point of the paper? They're robots. Can't they just exchange information digitally?"

Qrow gave Leo and incredulous look. "That's what you take away from this situation? Not concerned by the chaos, only why they use paper." Qrow shook his head before dragging Leo over to the Captain.

The large robot turned to the two men before saluting. "Fleet Admiral on the Bridge!" He shouted, causing the other robots to freeze and salute before going back to what they had been doing.

Leo saluted back and Qrow turned to the Captain. "What was the problem Captain?" He asked.

The Captain turned and flipped a few levers, causing the metal plates on the front to retract and reveal the sky ahead of the Leviathan. In the air ahead of the ship was another large Warship. It had a far more spiky appearance than the Leviathan's more streamline look, with several exposed cannons pointed at them. "This ship before us had Hailed us and demands than we land at the island below." The Captain said.

Qrow looked at the massive ship with surprise. "Who the hell are they? I've never seen a ship like that before, and none of the four kingdoms have ever used a design like that." He said as he looked down to the monitor that was scanning the ship.

"It's guns are pointed right at us." Leo said as he pointed at the ship.

"Indeed sir! They have hailed us as I stated before, shall we converse with them? Or shall I open fire?" The Captain asked as he made a motion like he was rolling up his sleeves.

Qrow turned to the Captain before Leo could speak. "Let them through! I don't want to fire on a friendly ship!" He shouted.

"Yes sir Rear Admiral Branwen!" The Captain said as he pressed a button that lowered a monitor from the ceiling.

The monitor sprung to life and displayed the image of a man with a thick brown mustache on his upper lip, graying hair framed the sides of his face and he had a cold expression. The man looked to be in his late forties, early fifties. His eyes were hidden by a pair of welding goggles, and he seemed to be wearing some heavy metallic armor from the neck down.

The man on the monitor began to speak. "My name is Lynx, Man at Arms to Lucifer, High King of Hell's Point. Who is the Captain of your vessel?" His question came across as more of a statement, but the large robot beside Qrow began to speak.

"I am the Captain of this ship." It said as it watched the monitor.

The man on the screen shook his head. "No, who is in command of your vessel?" He asked again.

This time it was Leo who spoke. "I am Leo Thorne, Fleet Admiral and current commander of the Leviathan. What is the reason have you hailed us?" He asked.

Qrow shot Leo and annoyed stare before the man began to speak. "One of my Faunus brothers commands that ship? This may not be as hard as I had originally thought." He said to someone off screen. Lynx turned back to the monitor and began to speak. "If you are Faunus commanded, then we mean you no harm. My scanners detected your ship leaving the Human world, and my King has ordered me to bring you to him."

Leo turned to Qrow. "What do we do?" He asked.

Qrow moved past Leo into frame on the monitor. "My name is Qrow Branwen. I am the acting commander of the Leviathan, and while we are flattered by your King's invitation, we are on a very important mission, so I'm afraid we must decline."

Lynx's face turned sour when he saw Qrow. "So, the vessel is not commanded by a Faunus then, pity. Oh well, the chain of command aboard your ship matters not to me, my king did not send me with an invitation, he sent me with orders to bring you to him." As Lynx spoke the cannons on his ship began to shift until they were targeting the Bridge. "Or blow you from the sky. I leave you with this choice, come with us peacefully, or be destroyed. You have five minutes." As he finished speaking, Lynx's face vanished from the screen.

Qrow turned back to Leo with an annoyed glare. "Why did you try to tell him that you were in command of this ship?" He demanded.

"Because I am in command of this ship, even though you lead the mission." Leo responded. "Even if it was by mistake, I still out rank you aboard this ship."

Qrow growled before he turned to the Captain. "What kind of weapons does that ship have? Can we beat them in open combat?" He asked.

The Captain turned to Qrow and shook it's head. "No sir, that ship's weapon systems are far more advanced than our own, if we were to fight them we would lose. Even if by some chance we won, the Leviathan would be unable to make it to our destination and return to Vale."

Qrow groaned and slammed his head down on the console. 'I knew this mission wouldn't be easy, but I didn't think I'd be dealing with rouge White Fang and monster Grimm this early! I guess I don't have a choice.' He thought as he raised his head.

"Hail them again Captain, Leo, tell them that we accept their invitation and will allow ourselves to be guided to the port." Qrow said as he walked past Leo, stopping only to grab the whiskey from his hand.

"Hey! What are you doing with my booze!?" Leo shouted as he turned to Qrow.

"I'm not drunk enough to deal with this!" He said as he walked out the door, passing Ruby and Winter as he did.

Ruby got into the room and stared at Leo, who had a sour look on his face after having his whiskey taken away. "What's going on Leo?" She asked as he turned to the monitor.

"We're making a slight detour." He said as Lynx came back onto the screen.

"Again?!" She shouted.

"Ah excellent! Leo Thorne, my Faunus brother, you have news I presume?" Lynx said, clearly happy to see a Faunus instead of a Human.

"We accept the invitation, and will follow you to the port." Leo said.

"My king will be pleased with your decision Leo." Lynx said as his ship began to turn away.

Ruby and Winter finally took notice of the massive ship ahead of them and adopted equally shocked expressions. "What is that?!" They shouted in unison.

Leo sighed and turned to them. "That's the detour." He said before walking past them towards the door. "Now I need more whiskey, stupid Qrow."

* * *

 **Nautilus Dorm Hallway**

 ***THUNK***

The man in the black suit slammed against the wall with great force as a wave of red crashed into him. He slid to the floor with a nasty cut across his chest, and dozens of smaller ones along the rest of his body. Around him, White Fang grunts walked up to him with their guns aimed down at him. Directly ahead of him was Adam Taurus, who had a rather irritated look on his face as he placed his sword back into it's sheath.

The man tried to speak, but coughed up some blood in the process. Adam scowled down at the man before walking towards him. He stopped and placed the tip of his blade on the right side of the man's head. "Who sent you?" He demanded.

The man coughed again, but forced himself to speak. "Y-you tr-traitorous curs!" He said as he coughed up some more blood. "You dare to call y-yourselves F-Faunus!"

Adam glared down at him and brought his foot up to meet the man's mask. "I'll ask again. Who sent you?"

The man's head had flown back into the wall, and his helmet fell off revealing that he was a Faunus, as indicated by his dog ears atop his head. The man glared up at Adam and spoke again. "I'll d-die a tho-thousand time's before I t-tell you anything." He said as he struggled to regulate his breathing.

"Actually, you'll tell us what we want to know, then you'll die a thousand times." A voice from behind Adam said.

The man turned to look past Adam, and saw a man in a white coat and a bowler hat walking towards him while twirling a cane on his right hand. The man had bright orange hair that hurt the man's eyes to look at.

"Now's not the time for joking Roman." Adam said as he placed his blade again at the man's head. "We had an intruder that managed to kill several White Fang before I found him."

"Relax Adam, some of your boys already found his ship, even if he did escape you he has nowhere to go." Roman said as he stopped in front of the man. "Now then, why don't you tell us where you came from real quick so we can get on with our jobs."

The man's glare intensified when he looked at Roman. "Human t-trash! I will tell you n-nothing!" He shouted.

Roman smiled and laughed lightly as he rose to his full height and turned to look back to Adam. "Now normally I would suggest some light torture to start him off, followed by some water boarding, then maybe some time as a punching bag to loosen his lips, but we're short on time today." He said as he placed his cane against the wall.

"What are you going to do that I can't?" Adam asked with a hint of annoyance at his partners actions.

Roman moved his left hand to his right glove and began to remove it. "Adam, have you ever wondered why I wear gloves?" He asked.

Adam crossed his arms. "I always figured you were a coward who was afraid to dirty his own hands with blood." He said as Roman finished placing his glove in his pocket.

"Your so close!" Roman said while he spun back around to face the man on the floor. "But the real reason, is my semblance. I can't touch anyone with my bare hands, or my semblance will activate." Roman said as he walked to the man and grabbed his face with his gloved hand.

"What is your semblance?" Adam asked as he watched Roman move his hand closer to the man with a menacing grin.

"You'll see." Roman said as he starred into the man's eyes. "Don't worry, this will only hurt a little at first. Then it will hurt a lot."

Roman's hand slammed into the man and red lightning arced out across his boy as he began to scream. White Fang around the man looked on in horror as the man's scream attracted the attention of other people across the Nautilus.

* * *

 **So hey everyone, I have actually started to get these chapters out pretty fast recently, and I am really liking how this story is evolving. When I started this story I had a plan on how I wanted it to end, and I had an idea for an OC (Leo) that I really wanted to put into a story. As I continued to write this, I came up with so many more Idea's to make it better.**

 **When this story began, I didn't even plan on having the maidens be a plot point, I never had any intention of sending people into True Remnant, as I didn't think of it until I was almost done writing the original chapter two. My first idea was for Leo to be a slow witted transfer student from Atlas that came to Vale to train. Looking back I'm very glad I didn't write that story.**

 **I want to take a chance to thank you for reading this story thus far, and for making it the most successful story I've ever written on this site. Without the positive reception that I got with the first chapter, I would have never gone past the first fight with Yang.**

 **Now I know having the Transformers and DC and Marvel thing in the beginning may seem a bit odd, but I promise all of you, this will not be a crossover Fic. Depending on how I feel, I may add one or two people from other Anime/Game's in the very last chapter, but that was more to start the build for the end of the fic, and for the sequel that I thought up while writing the last chapter.**

 **As always, leave a review telling me what you thought of this chapter, and follow this story if it catches your eye. Now then, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going to go see Superman V Batman in a few minutes.**


	9. Cell Block 5

**Alright, so I got to see Superman V Batman the other day... Didn't live up to the hype, but it was okay. Now then, I started writing this chapter a few hours after the last one went up, so I don't have any new reviews to respond to.**

 **Enjoy**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY**

* * *

 **Hell's Point Port**

Lynx walked out of his ship with his guards behind him. On the opposite side of the port the Leviathan had just docked and was now sitting idle, waiting for something to happen. Lynx brought his arm to his face and began to speak. "Crew of the Leviathan, have all organic lifeforms aboard line up on the docking platform of the ship, I shall decide who shall meet with the King."

After a moment of brief silence the door to the Leviathan's hanger opened, and the crew lined up on the edge. Each of them looked amazed to see a thriving kingdom outside the borders of the Human world, as they had all been told that True Remnant was uninhabitable due to the Grimm. Oobleck was especially interested, as Qrow had to hold him by the arm to stop the over caffeinated doctor from running around like a kid in a candy store.

Lynx walked up to the group and raised his arm to halt his guards. Lynx moved in front of the crowd that had gathered to gaze upon the foreign ship and its crew. "Alright everyone back up!" He shouted. "These people are here under orders of the King!"

"Why are there Human up there!" An angry voice from the crowd yelled.

"Look! That one with the blonde hair! At his side!" Another yelled, pointing to Crocea Mors.

"The cursed blade!" Another voice yelled.

Jaune looked around with confusion as he covered his blade with his leg. "What's going on?" He asked, turning to Qrow.

Qrow shook his head. "I don't know. We never knew that there was people living outside the Human World." He said as he looked out across the crowd below them.

"It looks like its mostly Faunus." Blake said as she scanned the crowd, seeing ears, tails and horns everywhere.

"Excellent observation." Lynx said as he walked up onto the hanger door. "Hell's point is the original home of the Faunus race. Little more than a century ago we sent several Faunus into the Human world to meet them." Lynx turned to Jaune with a glare than made the boy shift behind Pyrrha slightly. "You all know what happened next."

Lynx turned and closed his eyes tightly before opening them to look over the crew with his gold eyes. "You there, monkey, you may come ashore, as can you miss." Lynx said as he pointed to Blake and Sun. He then turned to Leo, who stood a good three feet taller than the man with a smile. "Ah Mr. Thorne, you may come ashore as well, and so can you miss." He said pointing to Yang. He then turned back to Qrow. "No Human's are allowed to leave this ship without express permission from the King."

Qrow tilted his head. "First, why can't I, the head of this mission meet with the King, second, I'm not letting my niece go into a foreign kingdom without some supervision, and third, Yang is Human." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Lynx raised an eyebrow and turned to look back at Yang. His eyes widened slightly and turned to Leo with a smile again. "I see." He said as he turned away from the group. "She may accompany her Alpha to meet the king." He said, leaping off the platform into the crowd below, completely ignoring Qrow's other questions.

Qrow turned to the Faunus under his command, and Yang. "None of you are going anywhere." He said while looking straight at Yang. "And this time, you will listen."

Tyme placed a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "We had better let them go. I saw the kingdom as we were landing, it has even more weapons than the ship did." Tyme moved in front of Qrow. "This kingdom is only Faunus, and while I don't know why Yang is allowed to enter, if we don't go along their demands, we risk being attacked."

Qrow sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He turned to Tyme. "I am getting really fucking tired of all the random shit that has been happening on this mission. When I get back I'm taking a bottle from Oz's stash." Qrow said as he turned back to Leo. "You may not be the most skilled, but with your age you have the veterancy. Make sure everyone comes back okay."

Leo nodded and turned to leave with Sun and Blake. Yang looked to her team then back to Qrow. "You sure?" She asked.

Qrow nodded. "Last thing we need is for this to delay us any further because we didn't let the King meet you." He said as he turned to the rest of the group. "Come on everyone, we'll watch from the top deck. I don't like the looks of this crowd."

Yang turned and walked over to Leo. Sun and Blake were climbing down the ladder, and Leo looked like he was too big to use it. He turned to Yang with a grin and scooped her up in his arms before jumping off the ship. They fell a good fifty feet to the ground, and landed with a loud crunch and Leo's metal boots broke the stone below. Rising to his full height, Leo towered over the entire crowd.

Seeing the metal giant land before the, the crowd shuffled back a few feet with looks of surprise and fear. Leo looked out across the crowd and saw where Lynx was waiting with his guards. Turning to look up, he could see that Sun and Blake were almost to the bottom and turned to look back at Lynx. He remembered Yang was in his arms and looked down to see her climbing onto his shoulder. Yang sat down on his right shoulder and placed a hand on his head with a grin.

"If you like carrying me so much, then you can give me a ride to the castle." She said looking down at him with a grin. Leo turned and saw Sun helping Blake down off the ladder and started to walk. The crowd parted as he made his way towards Lynx, a mix of fear and disgust on their faces from Leo and Yang.

Upon reaching the location of Lynx, Leo saw that he was riding on some kind of floating platform. Lynx smiled down at him. "Well, climb aboard my boy, we don't have all day." He said as he put his hand down for Leo to grab. Leo turned and placed Yang onto the platform before lifting Sun and Blake up, and climbing on himself. Standing on the platform allowed him to see even farther across the city, as the platform was floating a good seven feet off the ground, extending his height to sixteen feet.

Lynx turned to the man at the helm. "Get us moving private. I want the King to meet a fellow Alpha before the sun sets." The mad nodded and pulled a lever. The platform hummed to life as it began to move at a brisk pace over the crowd. People below began to shift out of the path of the approaching vehicle on instinct, despite the fact that it would have risen into the air if anyone was too tall and would have been hit.

Blake stared out across the city with wonder as they passed markets and streets entirely occupied by Faunus. "This is incredible..." She started.

Lynx turned to her with a raised eyebrow before he saw what she was looking at. "Ah yes, Trade Square is the heart of this port city. It can be quite busy at a time like this." He said as he walked over to her side.

"Faunus are going about their daily lives without being prosecuted by the Humans. There are even posters for bands with Faunus on the walls over there." She said as she pointed to the building to the right of the platform.

"You must mean the Hunters, they are the most popular band on Hell's point. My son is the lead guitarist." Lynx said as he pulled an image of the band up on his wrist. The hologram that came up from the camera on his wrist showed five Faunus, four boys and a girl, standing in front of a volcano. "He's done quite well for himself." Lynx said with pride.

"There's not a single band in Vale or Atlas that has a Faunus in them, most people refuse to buy albums for bands that have them." Blake said as she examined the hologram. She turned to look up at Lynx. "How did you guys reach Equality?" She asked.

Lynx smiled. "It was quite easy, this country is the birth place of the Faunus race, and we have a very strict policy of never allowing humans to enter."

Blake's look faltered. "So you never reached equality? You just threw the humans out?!"

Lynx shook his head. "Initially, we had plans to allow the Humans to come and go as they pleased. In fact, several hundred years ago, when Humans were exploring the world, they found us and tried to take our land. We fought them back and isolated ourselves from the whole world." Lynx said as he turned to the city. "We created a thriving empire that would last for generations to come... Then, a little more than a hundred years ago, we sent a ship of our people to the Human world to make contact, in hopes that they had set aside their bigotry in favor of peace."

Lynx shot a glare at Yang before continuing. "Our people arrived during a war, and seeing a species that that generation of Humans had never seen, they attacked. After destroying the ship they used to reach the Humans, they captured them and tortured them. Some were kind or sympathetic, and allowed them to join the fight. After many years of fighting, the war ended, and the winning side promised Faunus rights." Lynx turned back to Blake. "You know the rest of the story."

Lynx's seemed to have turned sour while he was talking, but Blake paid it no mind. She too got annoyed when she recanted her species history with Humans. "Well, it's nice to go somewhere and not be looked at with hatred or be given dirty looks."

"Speak for yourself." Yang said as she looked at the people below. Each one glared up at her and seemed to radiate killing intent. "This crowd looks like it's ready to rip my head off."

Lynx turned to her with a blank stare. "They will if you go down. Just move closer to your Alpha, they'll leave you alone."

Yang turned to look at Lynx with a confused stare. "You keep saying _"My Alpha"_ what do you mean?" She asked.

Now Lynx looked confused. He crossed his arms over his chest and starred at Yang. "You travel with Faunus and don't know what an Alpha Faunus is?" He asked. "You both know what an Alpha Faunus is right?" Lynx asked as he turned to Blake and Sun, who shook their heads.

Lynx sighed. "Your ancestors passed no knowledge of our island on then. I suppose that is a good thing." Lynx paused and pointed at Leo. "He is an Alpha Faunus. An Alpha is easily recognized, by their immense size, and having more than one animal trait." Leo looked himself over trying to find his second trait, as did the others. Lynx sighed. "Your claws boy, take off your gauntlets."

Leo paused and looked to Lynx. "They're ah, not Gauntlets." He started. "They're prosthetic's."

A look of surprise crossed Lynx's face. "Oh, I'm sorry m'boy, I wouldn't have said anything if I had known." Lynx composed himself and turned back the Yang. "Anyway, there is nothing overly special about an Alpha, other than the greatly increased strength and endurance."

Yang nodded. "Okay, so Leo is special. I get that, but what makes him my Alpha?"

Lynx tilted his head to the side and pointed at Yang's heart. "Are you not the Alpha's whore?" Lynx asked.

...

...

...

There was a think silence, interrupted only by the platforms engine. "AM I HIS WHAT?!" She shouted at him with a mix of rage and surprise.

"You bear the mark of one who has mated with an Alpha. His crest sits over your heart." Lynx said as he continued to point at Yang's heart.

Yang looked down and saw nothing. "I don't see any damn crest!" She shouted turning back to Lynx.

"Of course you don't see it, your a human. Only Faunus can see it." He said.

Yang turned to Leo who was standing stiff as a board, looking straight ahead of the platform. He raised his hand to his face and scratched his chin. "I would facepalm right now if the metal on my hand wouldn't break my nose." He said before turning to Yang.

Her hair began to glow, as did her eye's. "LEO. WHAT. DID. YOU. DO?" She ground out through her clenched teeth.

Leo raised his hand to defend himself. "Calm yourself! Unless you have done things prior to having met me, you still remain a virgin!" She seemed to calm down slightly for a moment, before her rage came back full force. "The mark you bear is a temporary one! Formed from being in direct contact with one another for extended periods of time!"

"And when were we in contact with each other!?" She demanded as she loaded her gauntlets.

"When I carried you in the caves! Or when I carried you up the hill! We were in direct contact with each other for a few hours on the island." Leo said as he tried to calm down the blonde brawler.

Yang glared at Leo for a few more seconds before turning to Sun and Blake. "Did you two know about this mark!?" She demanded, pointing to her chest. They looked to one another, then back to Yang and nodded. "Then why the hell didn't you tell me!? Did you think that I had already slept with him so it wasn't your business?!" Yang was not calming down as her hair began to burn brighter.

Blake shook her head. "No! We confronted Leo about the mark!" She defended. "He told us that it was temporary and would go away in time!"

Yang spun around to look at Leo. "Then when will it go away!?"

Leo shrugged. "Not too sure. A couple of days, a week at most."

Yang's eye twitched. "So for the next few days... I have to walk around with a literal sign, that I FUCKED YOU!?" She asked.

Leo twitched and turned away from Yang with a blank look on his face. "Ah... I suppose you could look at it that way." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest, trying to ignore Yang's eyes burning a hole in the back of his head.

 ***BOOM***

Blake, Sun and Lynx stood as far from Yang as they could, each Faunus sensing the potential danger of getting close to Yang, who herself had just slammed Leo's face through the metal plating of the platform. She dragged the poor Faunus out of the hole and slammed him into a railing before letting him fall into the street below.

"I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU!" She shouted as she jumped down into the crowd after him.

"Well this isn't good..." Lynx said as he looked down to where the two had landed. "These people may not take to kindly to a human pummeling a Faunus." As Lynx spoke, Yang began to throw Leo into the walls of nearby buildings, with the citizens nearby taking videos with their scrolls, or shouting various offensive terms at Yang.

 ***BOOM***

Lynx looked down and saw Leo crash back through the wall he was thrown through with a furious look on his face. "TWO HITS I DESERVE, BUT I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU THROWN ME AROUND WITHOUT A FIGHT!" He shouted as he charged into Yang.

Yang attempted to dodge to the side, but Leo grabbed he leg and whipped her through a window of a nearby building. Leo charged into the building after her, only to be clothes lined by a pipe that Yang swung at him. Leo brought his arms up to block his face as Yang pounded several rounds into his upper torso and head. Swinging wide with his arms, Leo managed to knock Yang off her feet.

Leo rolled to the side and tried to stand to his full height, only to hit his head on the ceiling. He cursed as he glanced up to see what he had hit, giving Yang enough time to get close to him and uppercut him through the ceiling. Yang used Ember Celica to follow Leo up through the holes onto the third floor. She saw Leo throw a desk at her as she arrived, and fired a round at it to shatter it. There was a loud beeping as a box on the wall began to flash and the building sprinklers began to douse the floor with water.

Leo got into a fighting stance and began to shift the metal on his gauntlets to cover the rest of his body. He reached into his pocket and placed a White Fang mask over his face, the same one that he had in the old picture of his family. The metal on his arms finally finished covering him in heavy gold plating, while the metal formed around the mask, leaving only his mouth visible.

Yang cracked her knuckles and glared at him, the water evaporating as it hit the burning girl. "If you think putting on some mask will save you, you've got another thing coming." Yang leapt forward with a blast from Ember Celica. As she got into range, Leo lashed out with a kick, causing Yang to crash through the dry wall beside them. Leo shifted back into his stance and glared down at Yang.

"Of you think that I'll go easy on you because you're throwing a fit, then YOU have another thing coming!" He shouted before blocking a punch from Yang. Leo moved to grab Yang, only for her to slip through his legs and get behind him. Yang leapt up and grabbed Leo's neck, pulling him back and throwing him over her shoulder. Leo crashed through the wall with a loud clang, as he hit an support beam for the building. Thinking fast, Leo grabbed the support and tore it from its place, then swinging it at Yang.

Yang ducked under the slow swing and got close to Leo, once again delivering an uppercut and sending him crashing through to the next few floors. Yang chased Leo up through the building, hitting him with uppercut after uppercut, before he caught her fist and threw her through a set of cubicles. They had come to a stop in some kind of office space, and several Faunus could be seen fleeing via the stairs. Leo turned and saw that they had arrived on the twenty fifth floor. Leo turned to look out the window beside him before he heard a loud crash and saw a desk and computer flying towards him.

Leo caught the desk and threw it to the side in time to see Yang barreling towards him. Moving quickly, Leo managed to push Yang's fist to the side and throw her into the ground beside him. Leo clapped his hands together and brought them down onto Yang's gut, knocking her back down another floor. Leo jumped down and landed on Yang, crushing her further into the floor. Leo walked forward and examined the floor they were on. It was another office floor, though it had three massive holes in it from where their fight had crashed through it. It was also on fire.

 ***BOOM***

Leo spun around to see Yang standing in the crater that Leo had slammed her into, with the very area around her on fire. He was stunned to see that she could stand after everything that they had done. "Good god you're resilient!" He said as he walked towards her. "I think it's time we end th-"

Leo was never given the chance to finish his sentence, as Yang moved towards him in the blink of an eye and hit him up through the remaining floors before the roof. Leo spun a few times in the air before he crashed down on the top of the skyscraper. As Leo attempted to get back to his feet he was blown back by the strong wind of being so high above the ground. His second attempt was thwarted once again, this time by Yang who had hit him with another round from Ember Celica.

Leo groaned in his crater as Yang walked towards him. She reached him and lifted him over her head before tossing him through the door to the stairs. Leo bounced down the stairs before reaching the landing and managing to climb to his feet. He turned to Yang who was standing at the top of the stairs, waiting for Leo to make a move.

Leo moved his hand to his chin and cracked his neck before shifting his armor back onto his arms and legs. He reached behind himself and grabbed a chunk of debris and threw it at Yang, who easily knocked the chunk of stone aside. "Is that all you have left?!" She shouted.

Moving quickly, Leo jumped up the stairs and attempted to grab Yang by the waist. Yang caught his arms as he tried to grapple her and flipped him over her shoulder before slamming him into the ground behind her. Leo slammed his arms into the ground with enough force to shake the roof, causing Yang to stumble, and allowing Leo to leap to his feet and create some distance between the two.

Yang turned to Leo with a glare, her eyes glowing so bright that it gave off the appearance that she was some form of Grimm. "You're awful slippery for someone of your size." She said before reloading Ember Celica.

Leo looked around for some edge he could use in the fight, before a gust of wind hit his face. Thinking quickly, Leo began to inhale, his chest bulging out as his lungs filled to capacity. Leo closed his mouth and turned back to Yang who immediately realized what he was trying to do. Leo moved his arms to the side, before slamming his hands together in front of his face. His arms began to shift again, revealing a funnel leading to Leo's mouth. Leo glared at Yang before unleashing his Semblance.

 ***ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR***

Leo's Semblance tore the roof apart as it traveled towards Yang. She attempted to move out of the way of the blast, but it grew outward as it advanced. She felt the blast wave hit her as it lifted her off her feet and threw her into the air beside the building. She could feel her eardrums explode as the sonic attack moved towards the adjacent building. Yang's vision was blurred, but she managed to land against the other buildings wall with her feet and hands as the sonic wave passed her. Moving quickly Yang grabbed the building with her hands and braced herself against the wall.

Yang glanced down below her and saw the streets filled with cars and debris from the fight she was having with Leo. She shook her head to clear her vision and glared back down at Leo on the roof as he transformed his weapon back into a pair of hands. Leo growled before he charged towards the edge of the building. Yang yelled as she leapt off the building with and explosion caused by her gauntlets. Leo leapt off the building and reared back to hit Yang when she got close. Yang also pulled her arm back to strike as she sailed across the open air.

The two quickly closed the gap and struck at the other with their fists. The two fists collided with a thunderous clap as the nearby buildings had their windows shattered. The two attempted to strike at the other with the opposite fist before they were interrupted by a third party.

 **"THAT'S ENOUGH!"** A voice shouted as Yang and Leo turned their heads to the right. Both of them were suddenly struck by a fist with great force, sending them rocketing down towards the ground. The two hunters crashed into the street below with incredible force, as the pavement cracked around them and caused the ground to shake and causing car alarms to go off.

Leo and Yang groaned as they pulled themselves from their respective craters, both of their Arua's spent from the great fall. Leo turned to look to the sky and saw a large man with bright armor and a massive great sword floating above them with a set of large reptilian wings on his back. He had long silver hair that went down to his chest with red horns on the top of his head, and was currently focusing his glare on Leo.

"I don't know what started this fight, but I'm finishing it!" He shouted. "I refuse to let you demolish this city further!" The man glided down to Leo and landed with a light thud. his armor clicked as he strode over to the larger Faunus before he dragged Leo out of the crater. Leo's right arm sparked for a moment, before the hand fell off and landed with a clang. The man turned to it with mild surprise, before he turned to Yang. He narrowed his eyes as he saw her crawl out of her crater. "A Human!"

He dropped Leo, who fell to his knee's and moved swiftly to Yang before lifting her by her neck. "How did you get to this country!?" He demanded as Yang tried weakly to remove his hand from her neck.

"I brought them here Sire!" Lynx shouted as the floating platform turned the corner.

The large man turned to Lynx while he held Yang in the air. "LYNX! Why is there a Human on Hell's Point?!" Lynx was about to answer him, but he was hit by an explosion that sent him crashing into the building to his right. Lynx turned and saw Leo with his right arm aimed at the man. At the tip where his hand had fallen off of was a large barrel that was currently smoking.

"Next time... Stay out of my fight." Leo said as he limped towards Yang. The crowd nearby was shocked by what they had just seen. An Alpha Faunus that no one had ever seen before showed up out of nowhere and started a fight with a Human girl that decimated a skyscraper, before the Lord intervened, only for the Faunus to protect the Human and blast the Lord through a wall. Leo got about five feet from Yang before he collapsed and fell onto his face. He groaned for a moment before a crashing could be heard.

Lynx saw the Lord crash back into view with a look of anger on his face. The blast didn't appear to do any real damage, but it succeeded in pissing him off. The Lord turned towards the platform and shouted. "LYNX! YOU BETTER HAVE A DAMN GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS!"

* * *

 **Vale**

General Ironwood stalked around the airship that he was commanding as it sailed through the sky's around Vale. He had a-lot on his plate since the Nautilus had been stolen. Problems ranging from the Atlesian Council threatening his rank, to Vacuo and Minstral launching simultaneous attacks on both Atlas and Vale, while the headmasters of Haven and Shade academy were arrested by their respective Council's. On top off everything else, a Grimm the size of a mountain had appeared and Ozpin was in the hospital. Needless to say, James had a headache.

The General was returning to the bridge after visiting Ozpin in the infirmary, and though he was expected to make a full recovery, he wouldn't be combat ready for a few weeks at least. The General came to a stop at the large door to the bridge and pulled his scroll from his pocket. Swiping it across the panel, he opened the door and saw a dozen Atlas troops scurrying around the bridge.

The Captain of the ship saw the General as he entered the room and got into a salute. "General on the Bridge!" He shouted. The rest of the troops in the room stopped and got into a salute facing the General. James pulled his arm to his head and returned the salute.

"At ease men." He said. The troops around the room returned to their stations and continued their tasks. The General walked to the Captain and looked out the window. "Captain, what is the status of our reinforcements?" He asked.

The Captain turned to face the General with a serious look on his face. "Well sir, with the CCT down, all communications have been cut across Vale. We only managed to contact Atlas for a moment before it all went down."

The Generals frown deepened. "And what of Atlas?" The General asked.

"Before we lost contact, we were informed that our AA batteries had engaged the Ark, but most of our weapons seemed to be ineffective." The Captain said.

James stared down at the Captain for a moment before looking our the window across Vale. The City itself was in ruin. Fire's dotted the vast metropolis, while in other places you could see the stray Goliath that had wandered in from Mt. Glenn. In the distance along the shore line, the Argo had crashed into the city, destroying much of the cities port. A defensive perimeter had been established by the crew of the Argo around the ship. The Council of each of the four kingdoms seemed to have been plotting against one and another for some time.

Occasionally you would see the perimeter around the ship light up for a second as the crew fired their weapons, whether it was at a Grimm, or some poor civilian that walked into their sights. Ironwood had to face facts. Vacuo and Minstral had declared war.

"If it's a war they want, then it's a war they'll get!" The General said as he turned to the helm.

A look of surprise crossed the Captains face. "Sir?" He asked.

"Patch me through to the rest of the fleet Captain." The General said as he walked to the controls. The Captain turned and gave a few orders to the soldiers in the room before the screen before him lit up. He turned to the General with a thumbs up. The General turned to the screen and began to speak. "Attention all warships. At approximately nineteen hundred hours, Vacuo and Minstral launched a coordinated attack on both Vale and Atlas."

Soldiers on the other ships stopped what they were doing and turned to the screens and the speakers nearest to them. "At approximately twenty-one hundred hours we lost contact with Atlas." The message was being broadcast to all ships, and most of the monitors around the city of Vale. Even several Grimm turned to the screens, whether they were watching it or simply looking to a source of light was indeterminable.

"Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy was injured and is currently being treated in the infirmary of our temporary flagship." A chorus of murmurs arose among the people watching. "At the present, we do not know why the other kingdoms attacked." The General said as he saw the perimeter of the Argo flash again. "We do not yet know the exact number of casualties sustained in this attack."

James could now see some of the soldiers in the very room with him begin to lose hope as he continued to deliver the bad news. "But not all is lost." He said. "My ships will remain in Vale for another twenty-four hours, at established safe zones to evacuate civilians." As he continued, a map with several marked locations appeared beside his head. "Once those twenty-four hours are up however, my fleet will return to Atlas." The General could hear cries of protest arise from the deck below where civilians were being kept. "Please understand, I am not abandoning Vale by choice. Once we have evacuated as many people as possible, we shall retreat to Atlas, where the military can regroup and form a plan to retaliate."

James could still hear the protest from below getting louder. "With the CCT down, and the Grimm Dragon at Beacon tower, it would be more than a little risky to remain in the area. My forces will take you to Atlas, where you can search for anyone you may have lost." On the deck below, the soldiers were having difficulty controlling the civilians. They called to the Bridge for aid. "This is not up or debate. People of Vale, you have twenty-four hours to reach my ships. That is all."

The screen when dark and the General sighed. He had just told the population of Vale that he was going to be moving them to another kingdom by force. Though he and a few others may have viewed it as an act of a savior to take them from a ruined city to one that can help them, the riot below showed that more than a few viewed it as a mass scale kidnapping.

"Send some troops to quell the riot on deck three." The Captain said as he turned to the guards by the door. With a salute they turned and left to grab more men. The Captain turned to the General. "What do we do now sir?" He asked.

The General ran his hand through his hair before he turned to the Captain. "Send the transport ships to the marked locations. Have Blue's 1,2 and 3 watch the Argo. I sent that message out across all of Vale, and I expect Vacuo's military to attempt some sabotage. They have orders to fire on any troop movement from that ship." The Captain nodded his head and turned to his crew. The General turned to the door and left as the Captain began to bark orders.

Walking down the hall, James could hear the protest below him begin to quiet down as his troops reached it. Looking ahead of him he could see his quarters, the door open. 'That's odd, I swear I closed that door.' He thought as he pushed it open. His room was larger than most, he had a bed on the left, with a door to a personal bathroom on the right, with a desk and computer in the back center, before the large window.

Sitting on his desk with a scroll in her had was Glynda. She turned her head to the General as he entered. "Well James, that was certainly an interesting speech you gave." She said as she stood and walked over to him. "You told the population of Vale that you had the situation under control a few months ago, now I hear that Atlas was attacked as well."

James pushed past her and took a seat at his desk. "Glynda, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" He asked.

"Why did you come back here James? When you were here for the festival, it was because Qrow had discovered Cinders plan. Now, seeing as how she has destroyed Vale, I'd say that at best, we delayed it. But now, now you came back with an even larger force than before. Why?" Glynda asked as she took a seat in the chair before his desk.

James looked behind him as the he watched his transport ships move into position. "Ozpin asked me to come back. He said that something was going to happen, an that I should come prepared."

Glynda looked behind him to the destroyed city. "This is your idea of prepared?" She asked sarcastically.

James frowned. "I was expecting the White Fang again, not the Vacuain army!" He stated. "I was ready to fight terrorists, not a fellow kingdom."

Glynda frowned as she re-watched his speech. "How is Ozpin?" She asked.

"He will survive."

She turned to look at him. His coat was torn and filthy, his glove was missing, and the sleeve that should be hiding his false limb was gone, exposing his injury to all. "And what about you? I saw you working with the students earlier. What are you planning?" She asked.

James stood from his chair and placed his torn coat on a hook. "I am doing fine. And as for the students, I have sent teams, CRDL, CFVY and FNKI to the safe zones as extra protection." James turned and placed his Gun on the desk beside his computer. "They have orders to assist in the evacuation of the civilians, then to leave with the ships."

"What about team SSSN?" Glynda asked. "I saw Sage and Scarlet with you as well."

James narrowed his eyes. "The remaining members of team SSSN are joining team CFVY at their zone. It would appear that Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias snuck aboard the Leviathan with Oobleck before it left the Human World."

Glynda looked out the window to see Beacon, with the silhouette of the Dragon atop the broken tower. "I hope that whatever it is that they're looking for out there is found soon."

The General nodded. "Things have to be going better on their side then ours." He said with a frown.

* * *

 **Hell's Point**

The platform raced across the plains heading for the castle. Aboard the platform was three grunts driving it, Blake and Sun who stood at the back with Yang and Leo, who were presently unconscious and chained to the railing, and Lynx who was attempting to explain his reason for allowing anyone to leave the Leviathan to his Lord.

"But Sire, I had presumed that you would wish to meet with the Faunus from the human world before you condemned the ship!" Lynx said as he dropped to his knee's.

The Lord had a deep scowl on his face as he stared ahead. "So you decided to allow them into our country, with no prior knowledge of their capabilities?" The Lord asked as he turned to glare down at the smaller man. "Your smarter than this Lynx!"

Lynx nodded his head. "I am deeply sorry for all of the trouble they caused! I underestimated their power and was unable to contain them when a fight broke out." Lynx said as he bowed his head to the floor.

"Because of your failure to contain them, all of Styx now knows that there are Human's in the country, capable of mass destruction." The Lord said as he looked back to the city they had left behind only a few short hours ago. "The fight between the Alpha and his whore destroyed all of second street, along with most of the nearby office building!" What he said was true. Lynx had no knowledge of the powers of Leo or Yang, and had the Lord not intervened, Lynx had no clue where the fight may have gone.

Turning to look back at the small group from the Leviathan, Lynx rose to his feet. "What shall I do with them sire? I had planned on introducing you to a fellow Alpha, though I had hoped that you would meet under better circumstances."

The Lord turned to Sun and Blake who were looking over Yang to check for any serious damage, while Leo sat with his broken hand on his lap. "The two who fought and destroyed the city are now labeled as level 5 criminals, and are to be stored with the rest of the high level criminals under the palace, until the week of the execution. The other two may make their choice whether they follow their Alpha to his death, or join our country." The Lord waved his arm to send Lynx away as he turned back to the sunset before them.

Lynx turned and left the Lord, his sights now set on delivering to Sun and Blake the invitation that the Lord had given them. As he got closer, he could see that rather than treat the Alpha, they favored the Human girl. Lynx watched silently as Blake and Sun checked Yang over to see if the fight with Leo, or the attack from the Lord had left any serious damage. Finding no external damage, the two could only hope that nothing had happened to cause any internal injuries. Satisfied with their work, Sun and Blake turned to one and another and started talking quietly.

Lynx chose now to speak. "You have examined that Human several times since we left the city, though I have yet to see the two of you check the health of your Alpha." He stated as he walked over to them. "The Human started the fight, yet you seem more concerned for her than for your fellow Faunus."

Sun and Blake turned to Lynx, then looked down to Leo who had both arms chained to the railing with his head down, and his legs crossed. On his lap was his broken right hand that had fallen off at the end of the fight. Blake turned back to Lynx with a frown. "The 'Human', is our friend. The 'Alpha', is not. We just happen to be on the same team for this mission."

Lynx frowned as he looked at Leo. On Hell's Point it was unheard of to favor a Human over a Faunus. "Yes well, what exactly is this 'mission' for? I'm afraid that Qrow and Leo failed to mention what their reason for leaving the Human World was." Lynx asked.

Blake raised her eyebrow and turned to look down at Leo. "I'm afraid that I can't share that information with you sir. Qrow is the leader of this mission, and due to age and status, Leo is technically the highest ranking Huntsman here. If they neglected to tell you, then they had a reason."

Lynx continued to frown as he stared at the two Faunus before him. "I see. Well, any information that you can provide for your mission may help in alleviating your friends sentence."

Blake's eyes snapped to Lynx's as a concerned to look crossed her face. "Their sentence? What sentence?" She demanded.

Lynx snorted. "You can't be serious. Regardless of whether or not you were invited to this country, your friend was part of a fight that destroyed a portion of the city." He said as he crossed his arms.

Blake stepped forward and stood in front of Yang. "What is the punishment?" She asked.

"Leo and the Human have been branded as Level 5 criminals." Lynx stated as he looked down to the broken robotic limb on Leo's right side.

Sun tilted his head to the side. "Level 5? What's that mean?" He asked.

Lynx raised his hand out in front of him. "Level 1: Petty thieves. Level 2: Murderers. Level 3: Terrorists. Level 4: Traitors. And finally, Level 5: Criminals capable of mass destruction. After seeing the fight that Leo and the Human had in the city, the Lord has decided that they are to be thrown into jail alongside the other Level 5 criminals." Lynx turned to Blake and narrowed his eyes. "Each of the Level 5 Criminals have come from the Human World."

Blake looked down to Yang. "So what does it mean to be a Level 5 criminal?" She asked.

Lynx sighed. "Up until recently, Level 5 was a cell block at our national prison that was sealed far below ground, with the intent that the population forget they even existed. However, do to a recent decision by the Lord, all of the Criminals from Level 5 have been moved to temporary cells before their public execution." He finished.

Blake stepped back with a look of shock on her face. "Execution?!" She shouted.

Lynx nodded. "They committed a crime. As such, they shall be punished."

Sun stepped forward. "Why not just exile them from the country? We have a job to do out in the rest of the world!" He shouted.

"Do you think that the people of Styx could be happy with the Lord simply letting someone get back on their ship and leave the country after they tore apart a city block?" Lynx asked as he glared down at the blonde boy.

Sun paused and looked to his feet. "No... They'd be really pissed off." He said.

Blake turned to the monkey with a look of shock. "Sun!?" She shouted.

Sun's head snapped up and he glared back at Lynx. "But the rest of the crew won't sit back and let these two be executed!" He shouted. "When we leave this kingdom, we're taking them with us!"

Lynx scanned the boy's face for any signs of fear, then he sighed. "The decision is final. The only one who can revert it is the Lord himself. I can arrange for you to meet with him and discuss a suitable punishment for them, but until then, they shall be housed with the other Level 5 criminals until after the festival."

Blake could see that they had a chance for mercy for Yang and Leo, but she didn't want to push the issue for fear of Lynx barring them from negotiating for their release, so she latched onto another thing that she had heard. "Your having a festival?" She asked.

Lynx turned to Blake and nodded. "Comes once every four years, and lasts the whole week." He said with a smile. "The whole country takes the week off to celebrate."

Sun turned to Blake. "Are you really going to drop the whole execution issue?" He asked.

"If we keep bugging them, they may not let us debate their innocence." She responded. Blake turned back to Lynx. "What's the festival for?" She asked.

Lynx smiled and turned to the open fields. "The festival is called the blossoming of the Sky Flower." Lynx pointed to what appeared to be a tree off in the distance.

Upon closer examination though, Blake noticed that it was a massive flower bud. "The Sky Flower? What are those?" She asked.

Lynx turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "The Human World doesn't have any Sky Flowers?" He asked. Blake and Sun shook their heads. "How in the world did the Faunus population survive in there?" Lynx asked as he turned back to the flower. "Never mind, the Sky Flower's bloom once every four years in the twenty-eighth week of the year. They give off a fragrance that causes the desire to find a mate to accelerate. On Hell's Point, this is also more commonly refereed to as 'Mating Season'."

Blake froze. "Mating Season?!" She shouted.

Lynx laughed lightly. "You have nothing to fear young one. You have already been marked, so the effects will be dulled for you." Lynx said as he pointed to the mark of the monkey. "This was originally the only way that the people of Hell's Point find a mate. For one week, the entire country get's together and the young Faunus go out and search for a mate. I found my wife at this festival twenty-eight years ago, and my son found his mate at the last one." Lynx smiled as he reminisced.

Sun tilted his head to the side. "Don't you have to worry about the Grimm?" He asked.

Lynx simply shook his head. "The Sky Flower's give off a odor that the Grimm can't stand. The kingdom rarely has any Grimm in it's borders, and when it does, it is usually a stray Nevermore that got away from the flock."

Sun turned to Blake. "If these things really do keep the Grimm away, then maybe we should bring some seeds back to the Human world!" He sounded excited at the prospect of potentially ridding them of Grimm.

"No." The three turned to see the Lord walking towards them with a frown. He came to a stop before Yang and Leo and starred down at them.

Sun tilted his head as he starred up at the large man. "Why not? If it can keep a-"

Sun was cut off as the Lord began to speak. "Because of what the fragrance does to Humans." He said as he knelt before Leo.

Blake pushed Sun to the side to get a better view of the Lord. "What does the fragrance do to Humans?" She asked.

The Lord narrowed his eyes as he examined Leo's arms. Then he turned to Blake. "The fragrance, when used on a Faunus, causes them to become aroused and more fertile. But, when used on a Human, it can send them on a rampage." The Lord said as he thought back to the day he discovered what the fragrance did to humans. "They lose all control of themselves and begin to destroy every thing."

Sun stepped towards the man. "If there are no Sky Flower's in the Human world, then how do you know the effects of them on Humans?" He asked.

Turning to Sun, the lord looked him up and down. "You children pose a great many questions that others your age would ignore." He said as he looked to Blake. "I know, because twelve years ago, the first time in eighty years, a group of Humans arrived on Hell's Point. Two men. At first I welcomed them, thinking that the Human world had begun trying to make amends for what they did." The lord said as he looked ahead to the castle that was slowly coming over the hill.

"As fate would have it, they had crashed here by mistake, and had no clue that there was intelligent life outside the Human World. I invited them to stay at the castle for the festival, and with the promise of food and liquor, they each agreed. A few days later when the flowers began to bloom, I stood on the balcony with the humans to watch. As I was filled with a pleasing feeling, they began to shake." He said as he shifted his cloak to the side, hiding his missing limb.

"They suddenly began to attack everything in sight. Before I stopped them, they destroyed half of this country, and killed much of my own family." The Lord turned and glared down at Yang. "So you can see that my people may not be the most welcoming to Humans right now." The Lord then turned to Lynx. "Have our army surround the Human ship, order all of them to remain inside for the next week with no opening of doors or windows."

Lynx saluted and moved to the opposite side of the platform to make a call. Blake turned to the Lord with a questioning stare. "I never heard of any missions outside the Human world." She said.

The Lord laughed once before turning to her. "Your a fool if you think your leaders tell you of all of their actions." He said as he turned to look at Sun. "Besides, it was twelve years ago, you would have still been a kitten when they left." He said flatly.

Blake twitched. She didn't like when people refereed to Faunus in any way that related to their individual trait, even if they themselves were Faunus.

The Lord looked to the castle that was now in full view. "We are only a few minutes away now." He mussed. Glancing over his shoulder at Blake he spoke once more. "I doubt that you would have heard of these men anyway. A third Human, a woman, arrived a few days after them in the midst of the festivities. She was the most dangerous of them all, but when it was over, and they were all locked away in their various cells, she told us that she was hunting the two men, who were top priority criminals in the Human World." The Lord said.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the Lord. "So why didn't you let her take them back to the Human World to be tried?" She asked.

The Lord stared back at her with a stoic expression. "On Hell's Point, I decide one's guilt. They came to my country, and destroyed it, killing a great many Faunus in the process. I did not need a jury to decide that they deserved to rot in a cell for all eternity." He said with spite. "I asked them their names and locked them away under the volcano for twelve years."

Sun looked up at the large man. "What were their names?" He asked.

The Lord glared at his castle, knowing that under the mass of stone and wood sat the very men he was discussing. "They were a set of twins named, Blaze Ironwood, and Charles Goodwitch."

Sun and Blake shared as shocked look and stared back up at the Lord before speaking in unison. "What about the Woman!?" They shouted.

The Lord raised an eyebrow. "Those names seem to have rung some bells. I will question you about hem later. The woman gave me no name, only apologizing for the destruction that they caused and willingly turned herself in. She did however give me this cloak." He said as he turned to the bright red cloak on his shoulder with a similar design to that of Ruby's own cloak. "Though she wore it somewhat different." He said as he turned it inside out, revealing a beautiful snow white fabric.

* * *

 **Cell Block 5**

Charles sat in his cell watching the wall as he had done for many years, patiently waiting for something to happen to break up the monotony of each passing day. Then, one day the whole wall was gone! Charles was confused until he saw the whole room was rising into the open air above. The light was blinding at first, then he could hear the thoughts of people around him and he grinned.

After briefly mocking the man who had thrown him into his prison, he and his cell mates were treated to a first class flight across Hell's Point where he got to see how it had changed. For a moment, Charles had even thought that they were going to be released from prison and sent out of the country. He was ecstatic at the chance to go out and explore more. Then, in only a moment, his hopes were dashed as they were dropped into a new dark room with a new boring wall to stare at. Charles was annoyed with the tease that he had been given.

He and Blaze sat with the woman between them starring at the wall, waiting for the week to be up so that they could be lead to their execution.

'Execution... Ha! They tried to kill us twelve years ago and only succeeded in capturing us. What makes them think they can kill us this time?' Charles though as he scanned the new room to see if there was anything interesting. As he looked to his right, a flash of red appeared before him and caught his attention. There was a deep red portal in front of his cell, with a black slit in the center. As he watched, a woman strode through the portal.

Her outfit consisted of a black skirt, with thigh high black boots. On her torso was a red and black shallow cut dress, with several necklace's around her neck, and a pair of black gauntlets on each arm. At her waist was a feathery assortment clipped to he side, and opposite to those was a scabbard with a blade hidden within. She wore a large Grimm mask on her face and had long thick black hair.

She walked into the room and turned to Charles. She walked to the glass and tapped it with her gauntlet, only for the wall to light up with electricity and zap her. Quickly withdrawing her hand the woman turned to see Charles grinning.

"Careful. The wall is electrified." He said with a smirk.

The woman pulled her mask from her face with a annoyed look. "Gee, thanks for the warning Charlie." She said.

Charles narrowed his eyes. "Watch it Raven. The names Charles." He said with a serious look on his face.

Raven waved her hand. "Whatever Charlie. Hey Blaze!" She shouted.

The Cell on the opposite end shook violently for a moment before a bright glow appeared at the window. **"Raven! Good to see ya old pal. Did you bring any booze?"** He asked.

Raven laughed as she strode over to his cell. "Not this time Blaze. Maybe next time." She said.

"May not get a next time." Charles said as he shifted in his chains. "We're due to be executed next week following the festival." He said, though no trace of fear or worry was in his tone.

"Sounds like fun." She said as she turned to the woman in the middle. "I was going to free you, but why miss all the fun of watching Ol' Lucy try to kill you again." She said.

 **"We might not go."** Said Blaze. **"Lucy said that he won't be serving any booze at the execution."**

Raven faked looking shocked. "What!? How dare he!" She shouted with mock anger before turning back to the woman who had yet to acknowledge their presence. Raven used her blue sword to tap the electrified bars. "Yoohoo!" She shouted. "Time to wake up!"

The woman in the cell turned her head in the direction of Raven, but continued to lie there.

Raven puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. "Fine, be a stick in the mud." She said as she turned to Charles. "So guess what Charlie?" She asked.

Charles gave her an annoyed glare. "Charles." He stated.

Raven roller her eyes. "Close enough. So there's a ship from the Human world on Hell's Point!" She shouted so as to allow Blaze to hear as well.

 **"Is mom still trying to find us?"** He asked.

Raven turned to the man in the cast iron cell. "They are still hunting for you yes, though it is not the top priority for anyone anymore. Your mom and dad more or less assume that your dead." Raven said.

Charles raised an eyebrow. "Dad's still alive?!" He asked.

Raven nodded. "Yep. Atlas tech is amazing." She said. "But no, that's not why the ships here. A group of students from Beacon are out on a mission, hunting for a legendary weapon that can save the world." Raven over exaggerated the last part so as to emphasize her disbelief in such a thing.

Charles laughed. "So the Council is letting children out of the house now?" He asked.

Raven shook her head. "Nope." She said, popping the 'P'. "It was Ozpin that sent them out."

 **"Neat. So what does this have to do with us?"** Blaze asked.

"I'm glad you asked Blaze." Raven said. "I want you to cause some trouble for Lucy this year." She said.

"No." The people in the room turned to the woman in the center cell that had spoken. The scar on her neck healing over quickly. "We will remain in these cells until the date of our execution for the crimes that we committed." She said as she sat up.

Raven grinned. "So you can still speak!" She said.

The woman turned her head to Raven. "What do you want Raven." She asked with an annoyed tone.

"Like I said, I want you to cause some problems for Lucy!" She said with a smile.

"We will not leave these cells." She said as she turned to lay back down.

"What if I told you that Qrow was here?" She asked.

The woman in the cell froze. She turned slowly to Raven. "Your lying." She said.

Raven shook her head. "Nope he's here, and so is your daughter, and your niece." She said as she rose to her feet. "They're going to be killed with the rest of you next week, all because Lucy has a grudge against one of the crew's ancestors. Poor Jaune Arc." Raven finished as she turned away.

The woman in the cell paused. "Yang and Ruby are here..." She said, some fear in their voice.

"Yep. And they're going to die unless you save them." Raven said.

The woman in the cell slammed her gauntlets together, causing them to break free of her hands, then she broke the one on her feet. Each hundred ton block fell to the floor with a loud bang as they cracked the metal below them. Reaching up to her face, the woman cracked the helmet off and threw it aside. The eye blockers were revealed to spikes, that were hammered deep into her skull. With a sickening pop, the woman pulled them from her head and threw them to the side with the helmet. Her eyes quickly regenerated back to their normal silver color and she focused her eyes on Raven.

"I must admit, I am glad those spikes are gone." She said. All other eyes in the room looked down at the six inch spike that had been pulled from her skull with shock.

"You had those things in your eyes for all this time?!" Charles said with horror.

Raven gave the woman a bored stare. "There's a reason she was called the Immortal Girl back at Beacon." Raven said.

The woman turned to Raven. "We can talk later, let me out so I can go see Qrow and Ruby!" She demanded.

"Now hang on a second." Raven said as she reached behind her. "I want this to go as smoothly as possible." Raven pulled her hand back around to the front, revealing a flower petal.

Charles and Blaze began to grin as they saw the flower petal. "Is that?" Charles asked.

Raven nodded. "A Sky Flower petal."

The woman in the middle backed away. "Raven, put that away!" She shouted.

In contrast, Blaze and Charles were ecstatic. **"We get to go on another rampage! What a way to make a comeback!"** Blaze shouted.

Raven grinned. "Come on Summer, live a little."

* * *

 **Woot! You have no idea how long I have been wanting to get to this chapter! I have been waiting patiently to add Summer to this fic, and I am happy that it finally happened. I never thought that it would be popular enough for me to reach this point.**

 **As always, leave a review telling me what you thought about the new chapter.**


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